Brake, the road safety charity, and Direct Line insurance are urging drivers to hang back, slow down and chill out on country roads to avoid tragedies, as a survey reveals the extent of risky, aggressive overtaking.
Brake, the road safety charity, has welcomed figures published on 21 May 2015 by the Ministry of Justice showing more drivers convicted of killing are going to jail for longer. The annual criminal justice statistics for 2014 show three in five drivers (60 per cent) convicted of causing death in England and Wales receive immediate custodial sentences, up from just over half (54 per cent) in 2013. The average sentence length for these drivers is four years, up from three and a half years in 2013.
The government’s official annual road casualty report, released recently, has confirmed figures showing disappointingly slow progress in reducing road casualties in the UK. 1,713 people were killed in 2013, at a rate of five a day, 2 per cent fewer than in 2012. 21,657 people suffered serious injuries, at a rate of 59 a day, 6 per cent fewer than in 2012.
The Government has announced plans to raise the speed limit for lorries on single carriageway roads to 50 mph and the move has generated diametrically opposed views. On the pro side, Transport minister Claire Perry says that the move is part of a package of measures to cut congestion, reduce dangerous overtaking and help get the country moving. Brake, the road safety charity, has expressed serious concerns about the proposed limit increase and the announcement comes as a survey by Brake and Digby Brown solicitors reveals the extent of risky driving on country roads.
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