Transport Insights

With the government accidentally signalling how little it is doing to improve “the infrastructure that makes up our roads” as part of its road safety strategy, another part of the safe system approach – speed – is coming under the spotlight.

Next Wednesday, the Transport Committee “will focus on speed”, questioning a five-strong expert panel in the third evidence session of its inquiry into the strategy.

In a press release, the committee notes:

Local authorities and National Highways play the lead role in ensuring safe speed limits are set on England’s roads, and the strategy commits to updating guidance on setting local speed limits.

Wednesday’s evidence session will see witnesses discuss whether the strategy’s commitments on speed are sufficient to support its casualty reduction targets.

I’m going to stick my neck out and say that if your commitment is that you will update guidance, it may not be sufficient.

Meanwhile, road safety minister Lilian Greenwood has given further indication of how little the government is prepared to do to slow people down and make the roads safer.

In response to two questions from Labour MP Fleur Anderson, first:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has asked police forces to provide data on repeat speeding offenders to inform future road safety policy.

And then:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has analysed international examples of requiring intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology for high-risk and repeat speeding offenders.

Greenwood gave the same answer:

The Department has not undertaken specific analysis of international approaches to require intervening Intelligent Speed Assistance technology for high risk or repeat speeding offenders. The Government keeps the motoring offences framework under review, but does not currently have any plans to introduce Intelligent Speed Assistance for those convicted of speeding offences. The Department will continue to consider emerging evidence on technologies to improve road safety.

The Department does not have a specific national definition of a high-risk repeat speeding offender. Sentencing in individual speeding cases is a matter for the courts, which assess the seriousness of the offence by reference to the speed recorded against the applicable speed limit and any relevant aggravating factors, including previous convictions.

The Department has not commissioned bespoke data from police forces specifically on repeat speeding offenders to inform policy development. Data on motoring offences, including speeding, is published annually by the Home Office in its “Police powers and procedures: Roads policing” statistical release.

If I was the minister who had just published a road safety strategy, I would be embarrassed to give this type of answer.

To end with some good news, some highway authorities, like Wiltshire are getting ahead of the game and creating frameworks to cut speed limits. In April, using the above 20mph sign in its press release, it announced:

Wiltshire Council is proposing to adopt a new Speed Limit Policy to provide a clearer, fairer and more consistent approach to setting speed limits across the county, with the aim of improving road safety for everyone who uses Wiltshire’s roads.