DfT<\/a>) said 22 European countries have made \u201cmore progress than the UK\u201d in reducing road crash deaths.<\/p>\nThe number of people killed on Britain\u2019s roads has generally declined since the 1970s, but the decrease has slowed since 2010.<\/p>\n
There were 7,763 road deaths in 1972, 1,850 in 2010 and 1,602 in 2024.<\/p>\n
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: \u201cEvery life lost on our roads is a tragedy that devastates families and communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, progress on road safety has stalled. This strategy marks a turning point. We are taking decisive action to make our roads safer for everyone, from new drivers taking their first lessons to older motorists wanting to maintain their independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe measures we are announcing today will save thousands of lives over the coming decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Officials](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/iStock-175130389.jpg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Officials also plan to introduce sight tests for drivers aged 70 and above (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n
The DfT said some drink-drive offenders may be required to have alcolocks installed in their vehicles as a condition of being allowed to drive again.<\/p>\n
Alcolocks are devices which prevent a vehicle from being started or driven unless the motorist passes a breath test. They are already used in several countries \u2013 such as Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and the US \u2013 in return for shorter driving bans.<\/p>\n
Officials hope introducing sight tests for drivers aged 70 and above will help protect all road users.<\/p>\n
Drivers are currently not subjected to mandatory tests once they obtain their licence, no matter how old they become, although they are required to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they are no longer fit to drive.<\/p>\n
AA president Edmund King described the strategy as a \u201cradical reframing of road safety\u201d, while RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said it \u201ccan\u2019t come soon enough\u201d as he particularly welcomed the long-waited reintroduction of casualty reduction targets and the possible use of alcolocks.<\/p>\n
Nicholas Lyes, director of policy and standards at charity IAM RoadSmart, said the measures are \u201crobust policies to make our roads safer\u201d following a \u201clost decade\u201d in reducing deaths and serious injuries from crashes.<\/p>\n
Karen Tyrell, chief executive of charity Drinkaware, said the proportion of drink-driving collisions which cause fatalities has nearly doubled since 2015, so it is \u201cvital that this change is coupled with strong enforcement\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-678672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115850702473539224","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/7d114e7ee2df3b4e889d52b9bd037668Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzQ3Mjg2NDY1-2.21578908.jpg\")
<\/p>\n