Give us a call
Talk to a friendly
member of staff.
Single-Car Insurance
0844 543 4416MultiCar Insurance
0844 848 4316
Talk to a friendly
member of staff.
Single-Car Insurance
0844 543 4416MultiCar Insurance
0844 848 4316
 |
|
Search our archive of Motoring news.
Search our archive of Motoring
news by date.
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
You can subscribe to receive the latest motoring news from Admiral with RSS.
 |
 |
|
24/06/2010
Maintaining road safety spending in the face of far-reaching budget cuts will end up saving the Government money, according to the Institute of Advance Motorists (IAM).
The claim follows warnings from other motoring groups in the wake of Tuesday's 'emergency' Budget, with safety charities and transport lobby groups having highlighted their concerns about where the cuts will fall in transport spending.
According to the IAM, its research "proves the value of setting casualty-reduction targets and funding them consistently". It claims that in the 20 years since targets were first introduced, 31,000 lives have been saved - resulting in a financial saving of £50 billion.
Basing its figures on the Government's own estimate that each road death costs society £1.68 million, the IAM says that continuing investment in road safety measures "will produce substantial rates of return to the economy". These arise from a reduced impact on NHS resources, the group says, in addition to cost-savings associated with fewer long-term injuries, fewer working days lost and lower levels of congestion due to accidents.
The call comes as Department for Transport figures released today show that the number of people killed in road traffic accidents fell from 2,538 in 2008, to 2,222 last year. However, the IAM warned that the downward trend should not be compromised by spending cuts, which are likely to amount to 25% over the next four years.
IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: "The impact of casualty reduction targets has been enormous.
"If we continue at our current rate of investment, annual road deaths in the UK could slip well below 2,000 by 2020 - a further saving of £4 billion and 2,500 lives over the next decade.
"Punitive cuts in road safety budgets will jeopardise these huge financial and social gains.
"Our message is simple: spending on road safety saves money."
Reacting to Tuesday's Budget, road safety charity Brake had said it was "outraged that road safety has been targeted so brutally", pointing particularly to cuts in councils' road safety grants.
© 2011 Admiral | Sitemap | Admiral insurance news stories
