Actual footage captured as part of Operation Snap
Alison, the lead for road safety with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, called for greater innovation and better collaboration between organisations to save lives and reduce the amount of harm on our roads.
The Department for Transport report released today (July 25) shows that there were 1,782 reported road deaths in 2018, similar to the level seen in 2012.
The study shows that there were 25,484 serious injuries in road traffic accidents reported to police in 2018 and 160,378 casualties of all severities - a 6% decline on the previous year.
The rate of fatalities per billion vehicle miles has fallen slightly, by 1%, from 5.43 in 2017 to 5.38 in 2018.
PCCs met in London on Tuesday to discuss the Government’s recently published road safety statement which proposes a number of steps including introducing penalty points for motorists failing to wear seatbelts.
At the APCC event, chaired by Alison, PCCs questioned Roads Safety Minister Michael Lewis MP on what the Government will be doing to improve road safety education for children, improve the safety for vulnerable road users and asked how technology can make our roads safer.
The Devon and Cornwall PCC has also secured £100,000 from the Department for Transport to enable 12 forces in England and Wales to roll out Operation Snap, a project that allows the public to upload video footage of alleged dangerous driving to police.
She said: “A day does not go past without someone losing their life on our roads. This is a national tragedy and one that requires urgent and co-ordinated action by all of us to change. Road safety is the responsibility of everyone who uses the roads but there are steps that Government, the police, highways authorities and councils can take to bring about change.
“Only today, a motorcyclist lost his life on a road in Devon. It’s another tragedy and one that is becoming an all too familiar story that’s repeated up and down the country.”
The full report, Reported road casualties in Great Britain: main results 2018, can be read here.