In a bid to “restore order to our roads”, the UK government is currently considering a series of changes that will shape the new Road Safety Strategy being launched this autumn.

The aim? To slash road deaths and make our streets more safe.

For instance, over the past decade, the number of road deaths has remained high with 1,633 people killed and nearly 28,000 seriously injured. Such high figures have been consistent since 2010 after a significant drop off during the preceding decade.

“In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year.”

• Government official to the BBC

All change

In an attempt to drive down such a devastating trend, the UK government is currently consulting on a series of changes and penalties. These include:

Compulsory eye tests

These will be required by any driver over the age of 70 and must be conducted every three years when they’re renewing their licence. If you fail the eye test, you will be banned from driving. That may sound harsh to some – but there are many cases of crashes where people have died due to the poor vision of older drivers.

Lower drink-drive limit

The current legal limit for driving after drinking is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. However, the figures for alcohol-related deaths has risen massively over the past four years, says the government. It’s why cutting the limit to 22 micrograms – like in Scotland – is now under review.

Also, remember, trying to figure out how much or little alcohol you can have before getting behind the wheel is not an exact science. Your gender, age, weight and other factors can all impact on whether you’re over the limit after a pint or two. Our advice? Don’t drink and drive full stop.

Passengers penalised

If a passenger is caught in your car not wearing a safety belt, they could be given penalty points on their own licence (with three points being the most likely penalty).

Drug-driving

Currently, if your roadside saliva test reveals you’re driving under the influence of drugs, you must then do a blood test to confirm the positive result. However, the government is considering dropping the blood test entirely due to the time and resources it takes. In future, simply getting positive result on a saliva test could be enough to prove you are guilty of drug-driving.

That’s not all

Other law changes being considered are toughening up the penalties for drivers who are caught without insurance as well as conducting checks for medical conditions such as dementia.

“These measures are overdue. The challenge is making sure they’re introduced in a way that’s fair, effective and changes driver behaviour.”

Edmund King, President, the AA

What’s not happening

There have been consistent calls for a Graduate Driver Licensing system for many years now. This would see restrictions placed on newly qualified drivers on what they can and can’t do during their first year of driving.

Despite the growing demands for the licensing, ministers continue to pushback on the idea, saying it potentially discriminates against younger motorists unfairly.

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Main image by Google Gemini