Breakdown Cover Articles

A Different Approach?
Comparing UK Driving Policy With the Rest of Europe

In order to improve the safety of UK roads, it is important to compare other nations with the UK in order to discover potential successes and problems with other systems.

We can be proud that in many ways the UK is a leader in road safety.

• The Department of Transport claims that the UK has some of the safest roads in Europe
• The UK has been more successful than any other European nation in reducing greenhouse gases
• The UK is a leader in making efficient use of lorries and cars

Areas to Improve Upon

According to the Department of Transport, there were a number of areas which the UK needs to improve. Pedestrians, for example, are more than twice likely to be killed in the UK as in the Netherlands or Norway.

Additionally, UK citizens could definitely improve their use of alternative transportation. In fact, people living in the UK are less likely to take public transport, bike, or walk than any citizens in many other nations in Europe. For example, in the Netherlands and Denmark, there are almost ten times as many cyclists than in the UK.

UK and Public Transit: More Riders Needed

According to the Department of Transport's study "UK Commission for Integrated Transport", it is clear that the UK does not use public transport to the same extent as other European nations.

An added benefit is the healthy lifestyle. As the UK suffers from one of the worst obesity rates in Europe, alternative forms of transportation, such as cycling and walking, will ultimately lead to better health for citizens.

While the UK is making inroads with regards to more efficient use of cars, other European nations are leading the UK in many forms of alternative transportation.

Making the change is also an environmentally sound principle. According to the Department of Transport's study, the demand for travel across all modes has led to concern regarding transports' negative impact on local air quality, noise pollution, and climate change. Unfortunately, in the UK, the transport sector is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions and is a leading contributor to climate change.

Preventing Car Accidents, a European Comparison

While the UK appears to have a significantly lower fatality rate on motorways than most other European nations, the UK has made only marginal improvements to the system since the mid-1990's.

Due to increased road safety campaigns and stricter law enforcement regulations, UK's European peers have started to close their road fatality statistics to the point where they are in direct competition with the UK's record.

While the UK's driving record is admirable, compared with other European nations, other countries like the Netherlands and Sweden are making greater efforts to attempt to get their driving fatality statistics down to zero.

Hopefully the UK can work towards improvements in both environmental and safety procedures in the future, to ultimately make the UK Europe's leader in driving policies.

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