Letter from Victims’ Commissioner to the Secretary of State for Transport on the establishment of a Road Safety Investigation Branch
Baroness Newlove wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport to request an update on the proposed new body to improve road safety.
Letter
The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP
Secretary of State for Transport
Sent by email
23rd November 2023
Dear Secretary of State,
ROAD SAFETY INVESTIGATION BRANCH
I am writing to you in my capacity as Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales.
As you will be only too aware, last year 1700 people died in the UK as a result of road collisions and a further 23,000 sustained serious injuries. Many of these were the subject of a criminal investigation and resulted in criminal charges being brought against the culpable party. The personal, emotional, psychological, social, and economic impact of these events is profound, far reaching and everlasting for many road victims.
On 29 June 2022 your predecessor announced that the government intended to bring forward new measures to enable the creation of a Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) to “…learn the lessons from road collisions and other incidents including those involving self-driving vehicles by carrying out independent investigations and making recommendations to prevent future incidents, make our roads even safer and save lives across the country.”
This initiative was welcomed by road safety groups, but they tell me they have heard nothing more since that time.
Can you please advise me what progress has been made since the announcement and when you anticipate the RSIB being launched. What plans are you making to ensure road safety groups are kept apprised of the work of the Branch and how will they be able to feed in their views?
Kind regards,
Baroness Newlove LLD (hc) DCL
Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales