Transport sector cuts set to hit road safety
Published: 03:27PM BST 02 Jul 2010
However, if this isn't maintained through government support of casualty reduction targets and road safety funding, all the hard work could be undone.
There are planned cuts of £683m to the transport sector, which would have a dramatic effect on the ability to reduce motorcycle injuries on the road.
The Motorcycle Industry Association stated that motorcycle safety can continue to be improved through the full integration of motorcycles into mainstream transport policy and local transport plans, which the Government is now backing. To what extent is not yet known, and how the budget will affect the ability to integrate policy and plans is also very much up in the air.
With every death on a UK road costing society approximately £1.6m, it's clear to see that budget cuts in this area will have an impact on the progress made on making roads and riders safer.
There's to be a massive and immediate 40% cut to the road safety budget for the current year (2010/11). This is made up of a 27% cut to the revenue grant, and a £100% cut to the capital grant. The capital grant is used for road safety engineering measures such as pedestrian crossings and installation of fixed cameras and speed humps. The revenue grant is used for local authority-led local road safety partnerships, which carry out campaigns and education.
While the Government has argued that local authorities will still be able to make a decision to spend money on road safety by re-allocating monies from elsewhere, it seems that the Government's commitment to supporting road safety is somewhat limited.
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