Safety

The RAC Foundation has been involved with various organisations in exploring the case for adopting some form of licensing for newly qualified young drivers that would ease them more safely than is cur

A simulator study shows the presence of a passenger can improve drivers’ focus on the road and help them to decide when manual control is needed in self-driving vehicles, but taking back control is

Greater sharing of collision data and medical information about crash victims could lead to a much better understanding of the causes and the costs – human and financial - of death and injury on the

Using ‘shock and tell’ tactics to teach teenagers about the risks associated with driving does little to improve safety and may actually make things worse. Traditional attempts to use ‘threat

The RAC Foundation has shared its concerns about plans to change the date at which a car is first subjected to an MOT test from three years to four years. Our analysis suggests there will be only m

A much better understanding of what exactly a ‘rural road’ is could help cut the number of people killed and seriously injured on them each year. That is a conclusion of a study for the RAC Fou

Please note that unlike previous versions of this annual report the data is presented by calendar year rather than financial year given an apparent change in the way it is published by the Home Office

A report by TRL – Supporting New Drivers in Great Britain – for the RAC Foundation and the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund has reinforced the case for graduated driver licensing (GDL) to keep new drivers,

The aim of this report by Neville A Stanton, Professor Emeritus of Human Factors Engineering in the Transportation Research Group at the University of Southampton, is to present the development of tax

The final report of the RAC Foundation-led Road Collision Investigation Project has concluded that there is very strong case for a permanent Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB). The publication

More than one in six speeding offences detected by police forces in England and Wales ends up being cancelled, analysis of the latest government data suggests. During 2020-21, a total of 2,426,950 ca

Using virtual reality (VR) headsets in driver hazard perception is just as good as, and in some conditions better than, single screen tests at differentiating between safe and less-safe drivers, with

In 2019 - 2020, 2,584,569 speeding offences were detected in England and Wales, an 8% increase on the previous 12 months. Over the last five years, acts of illegal speeding detected have incre

With the rapid developments of data and data science in the road safety sector, it is vital that road safety analysts are able to develop the skills and methods needed to take road safety data and do

A UK Road Collision Investigation Branch (RCIB) "should be established as an impartial investigator, independent from the existing judicial investigation process operated by the police." The RCIB s

A new study by the University of Nottingham and the RAC Foundation suggests that behavioural training for drivers is paramount for the transition into the next stage of automated vehicles, known as le

Roads policing is at a crossroads. Or rather, “it is back at a crossroads.” That is the view of Steve Green, the former Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, who also chaired the (then) ACPO Road

A 'systems thinking approach' to roads policing and road safety is likely to be the next big step in cutting casualties on the highway. In its response to the Department for Transport's call for ev

The proportion of young people holding a driving licence appears to be increasing again after years of decline. Analysis by the RAC Foundation of official data shows that 46% of young men (aged 17-

Offering higher levels of intuitive in-car technology to older drivers is likely to be more helpful in keeping them safe on the road than any system of mass retesting. There are already 5.5 million

Big challenges remain in ensuring universal, high-standard evaluation of behaviour change interventions aimed at making people safer on the roads. Many practitioners feel that they lack a professio

In-car cameras and black box technology that record young drivers could cut crash rates if the information is shared with parents. Evidence from America suggests the combined use of dash cams and �

This submission draws on both RAC Foundation published research and the broader literature to highlight the key risk factors associated with young and novice driver safety alongside the evidence-based

How will people interact with vehicles of the future? Automated vehicles are expected to provide the freedom for their drivers to undertake other activities while the vehicle is in control. However

The number of drivers being detected for speeding is more than 160 times higher in some parts of England and Wales than others. In 2017-18 – the latest period for which data is available - 1,191

The report, which is the first in a series of technical notes and reports to support the development of the Road Collision Investigation Project, describes how accident causation models have changed o

Analysis of data for 551 fixed speed cameras in 9 areas shows that on average the number of fatal and serious collisions in their vicinity fell by more than a fifth (22%) after their installation.

Motorcyclists represent an increasing proportion of road crash casualties across the world as the motorcycle fleet grows (WHO, 2015). Helmets are a proven safety measure, credited with reducing rider

The October clock change will lead to an increase of some 20 more road crashes per day in Great Britain in which someone is hurt, past experience suggests. Analysis of police data from the past six

A £100 million programme of works is on course to prevent almost 1,450 deaths and serious injuries over the next two decades on the riskiest council-managed A roads in England. That is the assessm

Older women drivers - those aged over 70 - are involved in fewer collisions than older men per driver, per year, but have a higher collision rate than older men per mile driven. For female drivers

As more technology, including speed control and telecoms systems, is integrated into the highway there is a clear move towards a systems based approach used in other modes such as rail. A report fo

Given the renewed focus on Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) – for example, in February 2018 the Prime Minister promised in the House of Commons to ask the Department for Transport to revisit the subject - the RAC Foundation has used the latest available road safety data to update previous estimates, published in 2014, of the potential casualty and collision reductions GDL might bring.

A fresh approach to crash investigation is needed to help bring down death and injury on Britain's roads. Currently the police analyse what has happened after an accident with the aim of making a c

Young drivers are significantly and consistently over-represented in crashes despite a variety of pre- and post-test initiatives. A new paper - written for the RAC Foundation by Professor Teresa S

Analysis for the RAC Foundation and the Daily Mail has revealed large differences between the 43 police forces of England and Wales in the way they enforce speed limits and dispose of speeding cases.

Up to twelve million driving licence holders receive a penalty notice each year – the equivalent of one every 2.5 seconds. This means as many as a third (30%) of Britain’s 40 million

Plans to extend the need for car insurance to owners of vehicles which only operate on private land risk increasing insurance premiums for all drivers, says the RAC Foundation. In 2014 the European

Fifty of the UK’s highest-risk local authority A-roads are on track to becoming safer, thanks to the work of the Road Safety Foundation, supported by the RAC Foundation and the Department for

Developing road safety interventions is an intensive and time-consuming activity and it is essential to develop interventions that work. This guide was commissioned to pull together advice in one

The vast majority of today’s road safety interventions, for young drivers and other age groups, are based on ideas of what might work rather than on the available theory or research evidence.

The RAC Foundation has appeared before the House of Commons Petitions Committee as part of its inquiry into the cost of car insurance for young people. The inquiry was triggered after more than

The RAC Foundation believes that there should be a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving. This is for two reasons – first to create an offence provision that fills the

The use of average speed cameras has been found, on average, to cut the number of crashes resulting in death or serious injury by more than a third. Research for the RAC Foundation by Road Safety

With two-thirds (66%) of the UK population now owning a smartphone the time could have arrived for a drive-safe mode for mobiles.

Using MAST Online to interrogate the STATS19 database 38 scenarios were investigated to calculate the number of killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties resulting from collisions where

Historical data shows that the monthly total of child road casualties rises to a peak in July when (based on a five-year average) 57% more children aged 15 are killed or hurt compared to December whic

Around 25 lives could have been saved across Great Britain this year, if England and Wales had followed the example of Scotland and cut the drink-drive limit.

New casualty reduction targets need to be introduced if the recent increase in people being hurt on the roads is not to be repeated.  On Thursday (24 September) the government will release detail

There is much talk of the connected car but what about the connected driver? Increasingly there is an increasing range of personal information being brought to the wheel and communication technology,

The progress made in cutting death and injury on the roads has varied dramatically across the UK over the past five years. While the general trend has been downwards this has masked big national and

RAC Foundation renews call for young driver safety green paper as figures show extent of young driver and passenger casualties.

In June 2014 the RAC Foundation published Views on graduated licensing an Ipsos MORI survey of public attitudes towards young driver safety and graduated licensing.

A significant majority of the British public back measures to cut death and injury on the roads through limited restrictions on newly qualified young drivers.

While the past decade has seen the number of people killed or seriously injured in a crash involving drunk-drivers fall by more than half (55%) intoxicated motorists, particularly the young, are

Driving safely for life: a guide on keeping safe and driving for as long as possible

Placing conditions on the licences of young drivers could reduce fatal accidents amongst this group by more than a half.

Each year hundreds of thousands of drivers could be making the wrong decision about their ability to drive because they lack the tools or advice to adequately assess their skills behind the wheel.

The recent bleak winter weather is likely to have reduced the number of people being killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads.

They have been with us since 1865 but there are still few things more contentious amongst drivers than speed limits with most people taking a strong view on them one way or the other.

The number of drivers breaking the 30 mph speed limit has dropped by a third in twelve years.

Two years after the Government announced major cuts in road safety funding, figures suggest fixed speed cameras continue to be used in most areas of England.

Road accidents eclipse stabbings, shootings, suicide by hanging and substance abuse combined, as the biggest cause of death amongst the young other than illness.

Six thousand lives could be saved on Britain’s roads over the next ten years if just a fraction of the money currently spent on road maintenance was used more effectively.

Britain should be braced for a possible increase in the number of road deaths because of cuts to the road safety budget and traffic growth caused by economic recovery.

Today’s older people are driving further and more often than previous cohorts.  Maintaining mobility in later life helps to delay the physical and mental decline associated with ageing, and is crucial for maintaining access to services, social connectivity, and fulfilling the various routines of daily life.

Eight hundred more people could be killed or seriously injured each year on Britain’s roads if all the fixed and mobile speed cameras operational before the road safety grant was cut in summer

Road safety is at a crossroads. It has entered a policy vacuum and urgent action is now needed to ensure Great Britain continues to reduce road deaths and casualties beyond 2010 according to this

If there is one thing most of us believe in, it is the benefits of education, not least when it comes to road safety.

Despite the myths, the 3.7 million drivers born before World War II are amongst the safest people on our roads, and forcing them to take compulsory retests will limit their mobility, be hard to

Congestion is estimated to cost the nation £22 billion each year. A quarter of that congestion is associated with road accidents.

Why is there a seperate accident investigation branch for the marine, rail and aviation modes of transport but not for roads where far more people are killed each year?

Texting behind the wheel impairs drivers' reaction times by over one-third (35 per cent) according to a study carried out at the Transport Research Laboratory on behalf of the RAC Foundation.