The EU have set a goal of no road fatalities or serious injuries by 2050 known as ‘Vision Zero’. Even though the UK has left the EU, the measures put in place will still be introduced. The wider ‘safe systems approach’ considers how to create safe speeds, safe roads, safe road users, safe vehicles and post crash care. As part of this, the General Safety Regulations (GSR) were updated in 2019 to allow for new safety innovations, designed to minimise human error. This can be up to 93% of the cause of collisions as a single root causation factor.
It is estimated that once these features are introduced it could save over 25,000 lives across the EU and avoid 140,000 serious injuries by 2038. To put this in to context, in the UK in 2022 there were 1,711 fatalities and 29,742 serious injuries. The UK is recognised as having some of the safest roads in the world but that does not allow for complacency particularly as these figures have plateaued over the last 10 years.
The mandatory features introduced in stages from 7th July 2024, will apply to all road vehicles, with commercial vehicles (buses, coaches, LGV) additionally focusing on the risks of a collision with a vulnerable road user, and further improvements scheduled for 2026 and 2029. Commercial vehicles have, until now lagged behind the safety features we have come to expect as standard on new cars and this will start to bring all vehicles in line.
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