Jesse Norman MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Transport

18th May 2018

Dear Jesse,

I am writing to support Cycling UK’s call on you and your colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to jointly undertake the full review of road traffic offences and penalties, as promised by the then Justice Secretary, now the Transport Secretary, in May 2014.

The second question in the your Department’s call for evidence to inform its Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy: Safety Review asks whether the laws or rules relating to road safety and their enforcement could be used to improve safety for cyclists and walkers whilst promoting active travel. I very much agree with Cycling UK that the answer to that question is that there needs to be a comprehensive review of all road traffic offences and penalties, because the current legal framework for dealing with careless and dangerous driving offences is weak, unclear and inconsistently applied. In May 2014, the then Justice Secretary, now the Transport Secretary, stated that such a review is needed “to ensure people who endanger lives and public safety are properly punished”.

That seems to me to be an entirely laudable aim. The number of people killed or seriously injured on the UK’s roads remains appallingly high: in 2016, on average, five people died, and 66 were seriously injured on the roads every single day. We clearly need a step change in road safety, and that means changing the culture of road justice. A comprehensive review looking at how we deal with all irresponsible behaviour on our roads is surely what’s needed to ensure that appropriate sanctions are imposed when people are endangered by the behaviour of other road users.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,