MPs have urged the Government to involve the HSE more fully in road safety in an attempt to reduce the number of work-related road accidents.
In a Transport Committee report, published today, MPs stated that it was “anomalous” that the HSE is not involved in examining work related traffic deaths. The report urges the Government to involve the HSE in these investigations before the end of 2010, as approximately a third of all road deaths occur during a work-related journey.
The report also calls for the Government to evaluate its Driving for Better Business initiative by offering financial or tax incentives to encourage employers to use vehicles with additional safety features.
ROSPA has welcomed the report but believes there should also be more focus on ensuring companies are deploying suitable road safety policies. The organisation’s head of road safety, Kevin Clinton, said: “It is important to make the correct selection of vehicles so that employees are using the right car, or van for the job they have to do. But employers also need people, policies and procedures in place to manage occupational road risk as part of their mainstream health and safety policies.”
Brake has also backed the report and lashed out at the Government over its failure to involve the HSE more closely with road safety. Brake deputy chief executive Cathy Keeler said: “Once again, the Transport Select Committee has uncovered significant Government failings in its duty to protect the public on UK roads.
“There is no room for the Government to sit back and rest on its laurels when road crashes tear apart families and inflict devastating injuries every day. Brake urges the Government to implement the recommendations outlined in this report.”
But the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) believes that more emphasis should be placed on providing driver training rather than spending money on vehicles with additional safety features. IAM spokesman Vince Yearley told SHP: “We would prefer employers to focus on offering advanced driver training, as more than 90 per cent of all road accidents are a direct result of driver error. But in an ideal world we would like to see employers investing in both driver training and additional vehicle safety features.”
A full version of Transport Committee’s report on ‘Ending the Scandal of Complacency: Road Safety beyond 2010’ can be downloaded from the link below
http://www.parliament.uk/transcom/
