Following a public consultation, the Government is to recruit a specialised team of inspectors to join the country’s first ever Road Safety Investigation Branch, which will look at how and why incidents happen and to provide insight into how new technologies such as self-driving and electric vehicles can be rolled out onto Britain’s roads.
The branch will investigate themes in the causes of collisions, as well as specific incidents of concern, to learn valuable road safety lessons. It will make independent safety recommendations to organisations such as Government and police forces to better shape the future of road safety policy and provide better, greener and safer journeys for people right across the country.
The specialist unit will also provide vital insight into safety trends related to new and evolving technologies which could include self-driving vehicles, e-scooters and EVs, to ensure road safety and allow new technology to be deployed safely.
Roads minister Baroness Vere said: “The UK may have some of the safest roads in the world, but tragedies still happen and any injury or death on our road network is one too many. That’s why we’re establishing the road safety investigation branch, so we can boost safety for road-users even further and also bring safety measures in line with other modes of transport and the future of travel.”
RAC Foundation Director Steve Gooding added: “Over the past four years the Foundation has run the Road Collision Investigation Project with funding from Government and National Highways. Working with three police forces and many other experts we have demonstrated the strong case for a fresh way of investigating death and injury on the road network which is why we are delighted with this announcement. We look forward to working further with the Government to get the branch set up and make our roads safer still.”
The branch will not identify blame or liability and so does not replace police investigation. It will instead draw on all the available evidence to make recommendations to improve road safety and mitigate or prevent similar incidents in the future. The Department for Transport expects to include measures to enable the creation of the Branch in the forthcoming Transport Bill.
