Should Government Be Doing More to Ensure Road Safety?

Whether you are driving a passenger car, a 3.5-tonne horsebox, or the largest HGV on the road, you have a certain expectation of safety every time you set out on a journey. Like all of us, you anticipate that other drivers on the road will be just as careful as you are so as to avoid accidents. Despite the common expectation of safety, though, the number of fatal car accidents in the UK increased in 2014. This has led to the inevitable question of whether the government should be doing more to ensure road safety.

At least one organisation thinks it should. The Institute of Advanced Motorists recently called on the government to adopt a list of new initiatives that they believe will reverse the trend of more deadly crashes. According to the Department for Transport, the number of reported deaths as a result of car accidents in 2014 was up 4%, coming in at 1,775. There were also a reported 22,807 serious injuries representing an increase of 5%.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists says there are a couple of things found in the Department for Transport report that are especially disconcerting:

• Accident Causes – The number one cause of serious and fatal car crashes appears to be drivers not taking the time to look properly for oncoming traffic. Not looking in all directions multiple times makes it too easy to pull out into traffic unsafely.

• Pedestrian Involvement – Pedestrian involvement in fatal crashes increased sharply in 2014. In fact, 75% of the fatality increase between 2013 and 2014 involved pedestrians. There were 446 pedestrian fatalities last year as opposed to 398 the year before.

The statistics make it abundantly clear that we all need to do a better job of paying attention while driving. The responsibility for protecting one another is on all of us, regardless of what we drive. The passenger car is as deadly as 3.5-tonne horsebox; both can be just as deadly as an HGV under the right conditions.

Training Improves Safety

One of the suggestions offered by the Institute of Advanced Motorists is the reinstitution of government road safety targets. Whether those targets are reinstated or not remains to be seen. But here at the HGV Training Centre, we do know that proper training improves safety. This is why we put so much time and effort into training professionals of all stripes.

We offer individual training for new drivers looking to earn a commercial driving licence or forklift truck certificate. We also train company drivers and those in need of Driver CPC certification. We even offer training classes for non-professionals who own utility trailers, caravans, 3.5-tonne horsebox trailers, and 7.5 tonne HGV horseboxes.

We are dedicated to helping make the roads as safe as they can be in the midst of increasing traffic volumes. When drivers receive regular and high-quality training, they are more likely to avoid accidents and comply with the law.

Sources:

Fleet News UK – https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2015/09/24/iam-calls-for-return-of-road-safety-targets-as-government-data-shows-road-death-increase