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Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety
PACTS 25th Anniversary
PACTS was established in 1982, largely to campaign for compulsory seatbelts. Twenty-five years on, PACTS still campaigns for evidence-based decision making in transport safety to protect human life. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we held a reception in the House of Commons last month.
Co-founder and Chair, Barry Sheerman MP spoke about the early days of PACTS before receiving an award from AIRSO for his enthusiasm and pioneering work on introducing compulsory seatbelt wearing. Peter Bottomley MP, another long-time supporter of PACTS and Minister responsible for the first round of road safety targets also spoke. Professor Richard Allsop, another founding member, completed the evening, outlining some of the future challenges for the transport safety profession and for PACTS in particular. You can read Prof Allsop's comments. http://tinyurl.com/2f2hbr
Motor Insurance Bureau Police helpline
The Motor Insurance Bureau last year ran a pilot helpline to assist Police with difficult roadside situations where there may be doubt over the validity of insurance cover for a suspect vehicle. The scheme is now rolling out to additional Police Forces. Read the full press release on the MIB website http://tinyurl.com/2x47m7
IHT collision avoidance guidelines launched
New guidelines to prevent and reduce the number of accidents on UK roads will be launched on 10 July at Church House Conference Centre in London . The IHT's Collision, Prevention & Reduction Guidelines will replace the Highway Safety Accident Reduction & Prevention Guidelines published by IHT in 1986.
The conference will give details of the guidelines and include case studies and presentations on road safety monitoring. The winner of the IHT Road Safety Award 2007 will also give a speech. The guidelines have been designed to bring together best practice within the road safety community. It has been built around a framework of five elements – data, structure, systems, finance and monitoring. The new document builds on the foundations provided in the original guidelines, which set the agenda for collision reduction over the last two decades. It will enable local authorities and trunk road agents to apply a systematic and inclusive approach to road safety.
Please see the IHT website http://www.iht.org.uk for further details or Simon Hawkins, Events Organiser on 020 7391 9956 or by email conferences@iht.org
Road Safety Grant Projects
The Government announced last month that twenty-five local highway authorities and their partners across England will share the first award of a new £4 million road safety grant.
A wide range of projects are funded, across engineering, publicity, pedestrian training and programmes for young people.
Climate Change Bill
The Government recently introduced the draft Climate Change Bill. The Bill seeks to establish a target for reducing climate changing emissions, support trading to reduce emissions and establish an independent commission to oversee policy and strategy. You can read the Bill and associated consultation documents on the DEFRA website http://tinyurl.com/3cm4uh
PACTS believes that neither the role of transport nor the safety implications of some emission-reducing strategies have received sufficient attention in the Bill. You can read our response on the consultations page at http://tinyurl.com/ysyf3q
New DfT research
The DfT recently published several new research reportson pre-driver education and one on the effectiveness of roads policing "Road Policing Activity and Casualty Reduction"
All are available on the DfT website at http://tinyurl.com/2fr4qx
New Parliamentary Questions
The Parliamentary Questions http://tinyurl.com/237bor table has been updated. Recent questions cover retro reflective tape, cost of road accidents and a street design Bill.
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