Northern Ireland's Road Safety Strategy

A report published today by John Dowdall CB, the Comptroller and Auditor General, examines the progress made in implementing NI’s Road Safety Strategy for the period up to 2012. The Strategy was published in 2002 by its key statutory stakeholders (the Departments of Environment and Regional Development and the Police Service of Northern Ireland). Its key targets are: a 33 per cent overall reduction in the numbers killed and seriously injured; and a 50 per cent reduction in child deaths and serious injuries.

Main Findings

Northern Ireland’s Road Safety Performance (Part 1)

  • Northern Ireland has traditionally had a poor road safety record. Aside from the obvious human cost, road deaths and casualties result in significant financial costs and impose an economic burden on the community. The Audit Office estimates that, in 2005, they resulted in a loss to the economy of £451 million, £18.3 million of which is public expenditure.
  • NI’s road safety record has improved markedly since the inception of the Strategy. In 2005, the numbers of people killed and seriously injured were 31 per cent lower than the Strategy’s 1996-2000 baseline.
  • Despite this progress, there are still aspects of road safety performance where improvement is required. These include: the rate of deaths and serious injuries among young and inexperienced drivers and motorcyclists; and the numbers of accidents caused by drink- and drug-related driving and excessive speeding.

Measuring the Performance of the Strategy (Part 2)

  • The Strategy’s key targets are lower than those set for Great Britain and progress to date suggests that they may not have been set at a sufficiently challenging level.
  • The Strategy stakeholders are currently unable to estimate total spend on road safety activities. This means that it is not possible to measure the priority being given to road safety nor to assess the costs and benefits of the Strategy.
  • PSNI is responsible for compiling road accident and casualty figures. However its figures are almost 40 per cent lower than hospital admissions statistics and measurement of serious injuries may not, therefore, be complete or wholly accurate.
  • To date, the stakeholders have not carried out benchmarking with any suitable GB region to assess NI’s performance and the success of measures in addressing road safety problems.

Education, Training and Testing of Road Users (Part 3)

  • Recent Driver and Vehicle Agency statistics showed a 12 per cent lower pass rate in driving tests overseen by supervising examiners than for unsupervised tests. This means that as many as 5,000 candidates may be passing the test annually without satisfying the standards.
  • The Strategy planned to review arrangements for training and testing of young and novice drivers but this has not yet begun. It has also made little progress in reviewing training arrangements for motorcycle instructors and riders. Furthermore, while all motorcycle learners in Great Britain have been required since 1990 to undertake regulated Compulsory Basic Training, there is currently no such requirement in NI.
  • Annually, DOE spends around £1.5 million of its Road Safety budget on advertising campaigns. However, it is difficult to measure the contribution attributable solely to advertising in reducing casualties. Three of these campaigns have been sold for limited overseas use and DOE may not be receiving an appropriate price from these sales.

Effective Enforcement (Part 4)

  • PSNI commenced the first phase of a safety camera scheme in 2003 and this was expanded in 2006. However, NI may currently be under-represented in terms of camera coverage and the likelihood of detection for speeding is significantly lower than in Great Britain.
  • PSNI is unable to implement operationally guidelines for speed enforcement issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers, primarily due to insufficient capacity within its Fixed Penalty Processing Centre. During 2005, between 32,000 and 42,000 motorists may have escaped possible prosecution for speeding.
  • Although the Strategy contained a commitment for DOE to carry out public consultation on the NI drink-drive limit by the end of 2003, this has not commenced.