Road Traffic Offences

Department for Transport written question – answered at on 14 October 2016.

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Photo of Barry Sheerman Barry Sheerman Labour/Co-operative, Huddersfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce (a) dangerous driving and (b) driving under the influence of alcohol.

Photo of Barry Sheerman Barry Sheerman Labour/Co-operative, Huddersfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations his Department has received on the effectiveness of the Laws against dangerous driving, speeding and driving while under the influence of alcohol in deterring those offences.

Photo of Barry Sheerman Barry Sheerman Labour/Co-operative, Huddersfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has undertaken on the effects on road safety of adopting harsher sentencing for those who break the law by dangerous driving, speeding or driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.

Photo of Andrew Jones Andrew Jones Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

I published the Road Safety Statement in December 2015 which sets out the measures Government is taking to improve road safety including the reduction of road traffic offences. Our award-winning THINK! campaigns have also been running throughout the year to educate drivers on the risk and consequences of a number of different type of offences. The Department is in regular contact with a range of organisations and their reports, such as the ‘RAC Report on Motoring 2016’, are provided to the Department. The Department often includes research evidence in its impact assessments, for example the Elvik ‘dose response’ model, which shows that rigorous enforcement increases the deterrent effect on offending. The Government continues to keep road safety and road traffic offences under review.

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