A number of ground-breaking initiatives have been announced as part of a 2 year action plan to improve road safety.

The 50 proposed new measures are part of the government’s plan to combat road rage, encourage greater mutual respect between road users and protect the most vulnerable.

Councils will be given powers to tackle dangerous parking in mandatory cycle lanes, and will also be encouraged to spend around 15% of their local transport infrastructure funding on walking and cycling.

Cycling and Walking Minister Jesse Norman said:

Greater road safety— and especially the protection of vulnerable road users such as cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders – is essential.

We want to improve air quality, encourage healthy exercise, reduce obesity and boost our high streets and economic productivity.

That means more support for cycling and walking, and that’s why these new measures are designed to deliver.

As part of the action plan, a bespoke new back office unit will be set up so that police can analyse video evidence submitted by the public. This builds on the success of Operation Snap – a successful programme first piloted by North Wales Police in 2016 – and will allow police to handle video and photographic evidence submitted via dash cams.

The Department for Transport (DfT) will also appoint a new cycling and walking champion, to ensure new policies meet the needs of road users across the UK, and will host a new 2019 Bikeability Summit encouraging businesses to promote cycling and walking schemes to their employees.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, the road safety charity, said:

People who choose to cycle or walk should be able to do so in a safe and welcoming environment; active travel is not only great for personal health but public health too. With cyclists and pedestrians among the most vulnerable on our roads, safety, and the perceptions of safety, need to be addressed to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and get active. We welcome the government’s action plan, which couldn’t be more timely as people across the country are encouraged to be more #BikeSmart for national Road Safety Week.

Joe Irvin, Chief Executive, Living Streets said:

Too often people walking pay the ultimate price on our roads. This is unacceptable and we need opportunities like this to make our roads safer.

Looking to improve the Highway Code for walking and cycling, and appointing a cycling and walking champion can help make our streets safer for everyone.

Lower speed limits in urban areas, more time to cross at light-controlled crossings, better street maintenance and constraints on pavement parking can all help encourage people to choose these cleaner and healthier ways to travel.

The action plan will also assess whether insurance companies could offer discounts to drivers and motorcyclists who have passed Bikeability training. The DfT will work closely with courier companies to explore incentives for drivers who undergo training in driving safely alongside cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders.

The action plan builds upon the feedback of more than 14,000 people, including organisations such as Brake, Living Streets, Cycling UK and the British Horse Society – who responded to the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review call for evidence.

We are seeking to make cycling and walking the natural choices for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey, by 2040. Since the strategy was published, councils and metro mayors have allocated an additional £700 million to active travel initiatives, with almost £2 billion being invested in this area over this Parliament.

The government announced that it would review guidance in the Highway Code on how road users should behave in relation to cyclists and pedestrians, as well as other vulnerable road users. The review will be conducted in consultation with all key stakeholders, including those representing equestrians.

Cycling and walking are increasingly being understood not just as modes of transport but as crucial parts of an integrated approach to issues of health, obesity, air quality, and town and city planning.

In this context, I am today publishing a response to the Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS): safety review call for evidence (“call for evidence”).

The CWIS, published in 2017, set out the government’s ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer one, by 2040. When the Department for Transport published the call for evidence on 9 March this year, I restated the government’s commitment to increasing cycling and walking and making the UK’s roads safer for vulnerable users, including cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.

The call for evidence was very well received, with over 14,000 responses from members of the public of every age and description, as well as local authorities, cycling and walking organisations, police forces and more. People responded with vigour, sending the Department for Transport great ideas, evidence of what works, examples of good practice from other countries, innovative technologies, and imaginative solutions.

More recently on 18 October, the department published a purely factual document summarising the call for evidence responses and setting out the main themes emerging from our analysis.

We continued to analyse the contributions to the call for evidence, as well as outputs from our regional workshops held in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. The government response published today includes a range of safety measures that will bring cycling and walking closer together as part of the government’s overall ambition to increase active travel. The response also sets out a vision and a two year plan of action, with 21 packages of measures addressing the key themes and issues raised in the call for evidence.

Among the key measures are:

• a review of guidance in the Highway Code to improve safety for vulnerable road users;
• new investment to support the police to improve enforcement by developing a national back office function to handle footage provided through dash-cam evidence;
• enforcement against parking in mandatory cycle lanes;
• the appointment of a new Cycling and Walking Champion to raise the profile of Active Travel;
• encouragement for local authorities to increase investment in cycling and walking infrastructure to 15 per cent of total transport infrastructure spending
• work with key cycling and walking organisations to develop a behaviour change campaign alongside the action plan.

All these measures are designed to support the continued growth of cycling and walking, with all the benefits they bring to our communities, economy, environment and society.

I recognise and value the tremendous amount of activity being undertaken nationally to keep vulnerable road users safe. The Department for Transport wants to provide effective leadership and support to the wide range of partners and other bodies who collectively work together with great commitment to make a real difference to cycling and walking safety. We look forward to continuing our close working with other government departments, devolved administrations, motoring agencies, local councils, police, cycling and walking organisations, motoring groups, road safety campaigners and wider stakeholders to take forward this action plan.

The House may also be aware that we have recently carried out a separate consultation on new cycling offences, which closed on 5 November. It sought views on whether cyclists should face offences similar to those of causing death or serious injury when driving dangerously or carelessly. We are in the process of analysing responses and will publish our response in due course.

Prime Minister Theresa May calls Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain this evening.

She said there had been good engagement between the UK, the Government of Spain and the Government of Gibraltar in order to come to an agreement in the Withdrawal Agreement and associated package of Memoranda of Understanding relating to Gibraltar. She said that the UK and Government of Gibraltar looked forward to these discussions continuing as we discuss the future relationship.

The Prime Minister reiterated her commitment to agreeing a deal that works for the whole UK family including Gibraltar, the other UK Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies.

Published 22 November 2018

“Extremism is thriving in some parts of our country and what we do know is very likely to be just the tip of the iceberg” – Sara Khan