Green paper for New Drivers

Whilst the back office sends out yet more surveys, I've had three in the last two days, and one email regarding research data, I also received an email notifying me that the results of the green paper consultation has been delayed until the autumn, no surprise there as this will coincide with the budget, the run up to a general election, and the likelihood of unpopular decisions being stalled until  May 2014.  This also coincides with the ERSC survey regarding amalgamation of driving standards in Europe, the decision to cap EU speed limits at a maximum of 80mph and the slowed introduction of kerbsafe.

Tackling seat belt law, where uptake across the World amongst drivers is at an all time low, the UK enforcement is weak, with civil liberty groups complaining that it restricts their human rights, yet there seems to be no reference to the right of the innocent party killed by a passenger leaving a vehicle at point of impact and killing someone else. Roads are shared space and shared space is shared responsibility, so if a conscious decision is made to ignore the research and advice and of course the law of the land, then that individual should be expected to deal with the consequence. Unfortunately this is not always the way, my studies show that any driver may not accept they are wrong, even when the evidence is clearly pointing a finger at them.

Across the member states, lack of seat belt use comes in second only to speed as the cause of road fatality, hence the decision to change the law with regard to child seats. We do of course have the lowest fatality rate ever recorded for 2012, despite this flouting of the law. Yet the UK Government has stepped away a little from road safety and road safety budgets, while declaring that they are dedicated to road safety the information I have read shows that is because this is being tackled by the EU and we have been reluctant to encourage targets, with the London Mayor appearing to be the only one who wants to make serious inroads into protecting the vulnerable road user.  Road safety will not be able to sustain looking after itself.

Driver trainers were heavily targeted in the mid 2000's and steps to overhaul education and monitoring has been slow to come to the forefront, however silence does not mean the cogs have stopped turning it means they are being fine tuned.  There seems to be a shift towards recognised QCF awards which again will support the private sector and will show a more even knowledge base than the current system allows.  However having a qualification is not a guarantee of anything, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, being part of a tick box system as an ADI is surely not going to have a big red standards check stamp as a seal of approval.

Where is the future of road safety heading, well I have a very good idea, and a little knowledge too, if you read between the lines it will be crystal clear. The meeting on the 1st July will definitely throw up few answers but lots of questions.  The transcript will make interesting reading, much more than before, I'm certain.