The Transport Committee will tomorrow examine the Government’s Road Safety Strategy in the round as the first evidence session in the new inquiry gets under way. 

MPs will hear from a five-person panel, including Steve Gooding, Director, RAC Foundation and Jamie Hassall, Executive Director, PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety), bringing expertise across the key areas for scrutiny. 

The Government published the Road Safety Strategy in January 2026 following calls from experts and campaigners over many years for a comprehensive road safety strategy. It is guided by “a long-term ambition for nobody to be killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain,” with targets including a 65% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured by 2035. 

Witnesses are likely to be asked whether the strategy goes far enough to deliver on the Government’s ambition and whether the 2035 targets are credible.

MPs will investigate the evidence base for the strategy and seek views on whether it strikes the right balance between road safety and independence for older drivers.  

They will consider approaches to speed in the strategy and what lessons should be drawn from Wales after the Welsh Government changed the default speed limit on all restricted roads in Wales to 20 mph in legislation that came into force in 2023. 

The Road Safety Strategy makes several references to Sweden, where the ‘Safe System’ approach -an internationally recognised, evidence-based approach to road safety – was devised in the 1980s. MPs will also consider whether the UK Government has drawn the right lessons from Sweden’s experience and what the limitations are in trying to apply the Safe System approach in the UK. 

The session takes place on Wednesday 3 June at 09.15 in the Grimond Room, Portcullis House in Westminster. Proceedings can be viewed live on ParliamentTV.          

(Picture: Acusensus)