So the government is unveiling a new batch of legislation with a view to a 70% reduction in the 30,000 annual casualty toll by 2035.
Most of it is to do with tighter regulation. Yet the avoidable casualty toll could be cut to virtually zero in a few simple steps. Most involve deregulation and empowerment of the individual.
1. Change the basic rule of the road from priority to equality.
2. All road-users are equal. But some – the vulnerable – are more equal than others! The vulnerable includes pedestrians, especially children and blind people. The bigger the vehicle, the greater the onus for road safety. So if a cyclist hits a pedestrian, the cyclist is automatically liable. If a car hits a pedestrian or cyclist, the car driver is automatically liable. If a lorry hits a car, the lorry driver is liable.
3. Re-educate drivers, and rewrite the rulebook and the driving test. The basic rule is now to take it more or less in turns, and give way to others – on foot or on wheels – who were there first.
4. In the absence of a bridge or flyover, make junctions all-way give-ways.
5. Re-engineer roads to express a cooperative playing-field rather than a competitive killing-field.
The new rulebook could be written on one page: 1. Drive on the left. 2. Take it in turns/ give way to others who were there first. 3. Have a nice day.
Speed doesn’t kill. It’s inappropriate speed, or speed in the wrong hands that can kill. On busy streets, especially if children are around, proceed at walking pace. On the open road, within reason, choose your own speed.
Use the inside lane except when overtaking. This has been the Highway Code for at least 60 years, yet too many drivers ignore it. Middle-lane blockers cause congestion and accidents, but it’s their victims who get the blame.
Almost universally, legislators and commentators blame drivers for “accidents”. But most accidents are not accidents. They are events contrived by the anti-social rules of the road.
It’s the rules that need changing. Changing the rules – above all, replacing priority with equality – will transfigure the public realm and usher in an era of peace on our roads.
