Local MP backs new Road Safety Strategy to make roads safer in Chester North and Neston

Samantha Dixon MP, Labour’s MP for Chester North and Neston, has welcomed the Government’s new Road Safety Strategy, which aims to cut deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads by 65% by 2035.

After more than a decade of Conservative inaction, 22 European countries have made greater progress than the UK in reducing road fatalities, causing Britain to slip from third to fourth in European road safety rankings. Around four people still die on Britain’s roads every day – many in collisions that could have been prevented.

Labour’s Road Safety Strategy marks a decisive break from that failure, with a clear plan to tackle the main causes of serious collisions, including drink and drug driving, speeding, mobile phone use, unsafe vehicles, and poor road design

The strategy includes consultations on lowering the drink-drive limit – unchanged since 1967 – tougher action on repeat offenders, and the potential use of alcohol interlock devices.

To reduce collisions involving young drivers, the government will consult on a three or six-month minimum learning period, while mandatory eyesight testing for drivers over 70 will also be considered as the population ages.

Further measures include cracking down on illegal ‘ghost’ number plates, uninsured driving and vehicles without a valid MOT, mandating 18 new vehicle safety technologies, and establishing a new Road Safety Investigation Branch and Board to oversee delivery.

Samantha Dixon, Member of Parliament for Chester North and Neston said: 

“Every journey should start and end safely. I know how important road safety is to people across out local area. It affects all of us. This is an issue close to many in our community and many residents have contacted me to share their concerns. 

“I am pleased the Government are taking road safety seriously with the new Road Safety Strategy. This strategy is a vital step towards preventing avoidable deaths and injuries. People in Chester North and Neston will be safer because of it.”

Labour’s Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said:

“Every life lost on our roads is a tragedy that devastates families and communities. For too long, progress on road safety has stalled. This strategy marks a turning point.

“We are taking decisive action to make our roads safer for everyone, from new drivers taking their first lessons to older motorists wanting to maintain their independence. The measures we are announcing today will save thousands of lives over the coming decade.”

Labour’s strategy is built on the internationally recognised Safe System approach, which recognises that while human error is inevitable, deaths and serious injuries are not.

Rather than placing responsibility solely on individual drivers, the approach ensures that road design, vehicle safety, enforcement, and education work together to protect all road users.

The Strategy demonstrates Labour’s commitment to safer communities, easing pressure on the NHS, and ending the complacency that defined the Conservatives’ record on road safety.

Pictured - Samantha Dixon with the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander and Lilian Greenwood MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Local Transport).