Road Safety Week calls for ADAS mandate
Road Safety charity Brake is marking Road Safety Week by urging the government to mandate ADAS in all new vehicles sold in the UK.
Europe introduced Vehicle General Safety Regulations in Europe in 2022, which stipulates that all new vehicles sold mush include road safety features such as advanced emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance and attention warning in case of driver drowsiness.
Brake now estimates that adopting the Vehicle General Safety Regulation in Britain could prevent more than 1,700 deaths and 15,000 serious injuries over 16 years, and save up to £7bn in health costs.
The call comes at the start of Road Safety Week (16-22 November), a national campaign to raise awareness of the impact of road death and injury. This year’s theme is Safe Vehicles Save Lives.
Vehicle safety
Ross Moorlock, chief executive at Brake, said: “This year, we have put vehicle safety at the very heart of Road Safety Week, because we know that whoever we are, and however we travel, the safety of the vehicles we use is critical to road safety. When we look back at the introduction of seatbelts and airbags, for example, the impact they have had on reducing road deaths and injuries is staggering.
“We know that modern vehicle technology, with automated driver assistance systems, has the potential to have the same transformational impact. There is simply no good reason why any new vehicle sold in the UK should not to be fitted with the latest generation, life-saving safety features as standard.
“The latest government casualty data, revealing that 59% of road deaths in 2024 involved speed, is a case in point. Safety features such as intelligent speed assistance and automated emergency braking can play a crucial role in preventing crashes and reducing the risk of death and serious injury on our roads.”
