Older drivers could face mandatory eye tests and the drink-drive limit could be cut as the government tries to reduce the number of road deaths.<\/p>\n
In a major overhaul of the UK\u2019s road safety laws, ministers are also reportedly considering tougher penalties for uninsured drivers and failing to wear a seatbelt.<\/p>\n
The proposals, expected to be published as part of a road safety strategy in the autumn, come amid concern about the number of people being killed or seriously injured on Britain\u2019s roads.<\/p>\n
Last year, 1,633 people were killed and almost 28,000 seriously injured in traffic incidents, and numbers have remained relatively constant after a large fall between 2000 and 2010.<\/p>\n
A Labour<\/a> source said: \u201cAt the end of the last Labour government, the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads was at a record low, but numbers have remained stubbornly high under successive Conservative governments.<\/p>\n \u201cIn no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than \u00a32bn a year.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the number of people killed in drink-driving incidents has risen over the past decade, reaching a 13-year high in 2022 and prompting concern that existing road safety measures are no longer working.<\/p>\n Under the plans being considered by the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, and first reported in the Times, the drink-drive limit in England<\/a> and Wales could be cut from 35 micrograms of alcohol a 100ml of breath to 22 micrograms.<\/p>\n