Transport Insights

There’s a lot in the government’s road safety strategy, finally published yesterday, and specifically a lot of consultation about changing things, largely for the better.

The adoption of a casualty reduction target, albeit one that still envisages that large numbers of people will be killed and seriously injured on the roads in 10 years’ time, is largely welcome and welcomed and of course it allows the spin doctors to claim that the strategy will save thousands of lives.

I’d like to focus on one aspect of one of the consultations as it illustrates how far ministers are and are not willing to go to save lives. The strategy says:

Ensuring all new vehicles made in Great Britain have 18 new vehicle safety technologies

The government is committed to ensuring that new vehicles entering the market in Great Britain comply with the very latest safety standards.

For a start, surely “made” is an error. They mean all new vehicles sold here.

And when I see the PR language of “committed to ensuring” I always ask why they didn’t just say they will ensure it.

There is in fact a consultation on Mandating vehicle safety technologies in GB type approval, which includes a number of emergency braking technologies. Didn’t ministers consult on changing the law on pavement parking in 2020? (and are finally doing something in 2026)

The consultation document makes clear that a key issue is aligning with EU-wide General Safety Regulations, but the inclusion of autonomous emergency braking has been labelled as “Dev’s law”.

This reflects the campaign run by Meera Naran MBE, whose eight-year-old son Dev was killed in 2018 when the car his grandfather was driving stopped on the a smart motorway section of the M6 and was hit by a lorry. 

As her former solicitors, fieldfisher, said yesterday:

Since then, his mother Meera has campaigned non-step to have the Highway Agency’s policy around smart motorways revoked, as well as specific measures such as compulsory braking technology.

Following Dev’s death, Keith Barrett supported the family at inquest and successfully concluded a personal injury claim on their behalf against the insurers of the vehicles involved. The Telegraph initially highlighted the case and supported Meera’s campaign to overturn the widespread introduction of smart motorways.

After hearing evidence, the West Midlands area coroner Emma Brown issued a Section 28 Preventing Future Deaths report – the most serious ruling open to a coroner – warning that further lives were at risk with the continued use of ‘smart’ motorways to ease traffic congestion. She said turning the hard shoulder into an active lane can ‘confuse motorists’.

Ms Brown also highlighted that the Highway’s Agency staff failed to spot the car, despite numerous CCTV cameras covering the route and voiced her concern that no discussions were in place to improve monitoring of smart motorways.

Meanwhile, Meera also campaigned for Dev’s Law to make mandatory braking technology that automatically slows a vehicle when sensors detect an impending collision (AEB). 

So ministers have spun a measure that is as much about aligning with EU standards as safety (and is already in force in Northern Ireland) as a win for this campaign, while continuing to cover up the safety failings of smart motorways.

Automated emergency braking and other technologies will save lives but for years there will be many cars legally on the road without them and there will continue to be fatal crashes on smart motorways because the technology that is meant to prevent them is not up to the job.