ROAD SAFETY BILL

KEY BENEFITS

• Demonstrates strong public commitments on road safety, helps
  deliver casualty reduction targets and provides better and fairer
  enforcement of road traffic law
• Relates the punishment of certain offences by fixed penalty to
  the severity of the crime e.g. speeding and roadworthiness offences
• New powers for police to use roadside evidential breath testing
  equipment/saving police resources and preventing people evading justice
• Detects and targets uninsured driving through improved use of
  data & technology
• Combating fatigue-related accidents by improving enforcement of
  EU regulations on Drivers' Hours and providing motorway rest areas
• Improves and extends regulation of driving instructors to ensure
  quality standards and value for money, empowers consumer through better information
• More extensive use of driver re-training  to  reduce  recidivism
  and improve driving standards
• Ensures Government is able to continue to pilot successful
  innovative road safety projects at local authority level.eg in
  association with neighbourhood renewal

TERRITORIAL EXTENT

• The majority of the Bill will apply in England, Scotland and
  Wales;
• some areas of the Bill (motorway rest areas and London private
  hire vehicles) extend only to England and Wales
• certain other provisions will also extend to Northern Ireland
  (registration of number plate suppliers, particulars to be recorded on
  the vehicles register and provisions on international exchange of driver
  and vehicle data).

PROGRESS IN PARLIAMENT

This Bill was introduced to Parliament on 30/11/04. You can download a copy of the Bill text here. Information about the Bill's progress in parliament can be found here and you can search the official report (Hansard) for the text of debates on the Bill at Second Reading or Committee stage here. 

COMMENTS

If you have any comments on the proposals you can email them to:

David.Pullen@dft.gov.uk