The Committee's report examines a range of safety and environmental issues regarding technological developments in the design of motor vehicles under the following headings: industrial advantage and vehicle technology; the environment and the car of the future, carbon emissions and European standards; future fuels and technologies; incentives for low carbon and alternative fuel cars; vehicle safety technology; telematics for intelligent transport systems and law enforcement, including satellite location technology and in-vehicle technology for crime prevention; consumer awareness, safety and environmental information, and the car maintenance sector.

Government response to HCP 319-I of session 2003-04 (ISBN 021502012X)

Cars of the Future : Seventeenth report of session 2003-04, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

Cars.

Car Troubles central premise is that the car as the dominant mode of travel needs to be problematized. It examines a wide range of issues that are central to automobility by situating it within social, economic, and political contexts, and by combining social theory, specific case studies and policy-oriented analysis. With an international team of contributors the book provides a coherent and comprehensive analysis of the global phenomenon of automobility from the Anglo world to the cases in China and Chile and all the elements that relate to it.

Although road accident deaths have halved between 1958 and 2007 whilst the number of licensed motor vehicles and vehicle mileage covered increased by 400 per cent, the current rate of 3,000 deaths and 250,000 injuries is still an unacceptably high level. Road accidents are the largest single cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 35 in Britain, and road accidents cost our economy some £18 billion each year. The number of deaths and injuries on roads far outweighs the deaths and injuries in other transport modes, and should be viewed as a major public health problem. The Government should establish a British Road Safety Survey to track overall casualty and safety trends, and review current methods for recording road-traffic injuries. The Committee recommends a systems approach to road safety: ensuring the vehicle, the road infrastructure, regulations and driver training are designed to similar safety and performance standards. Other recommendations include: more 20 mph speed limits; a more proactive approach to determining the safety benefits of new vehicle technologies; action on young drivers - who represent a disproportionate risk to road users - and vulnerable users: motorcyclists, elderly and child pedestrians and cyclists, horse riders; a higher priority given to enforcement of drink-drive and drug-drive offences. The Committee recommends the establishment of an independent Road Safety Commission with powers to work across the whole of government, ensuring that a high priority and adequate resources are given to road safety and that all government departments and agencies give active support. The Government should also establish a road accident investigation branch, like those in aviation, rail and marine.