UK failing to embrace innovation to tackle road safety, finds survey
A new survey of delegates at Highways UK, the UK’s premier highway event attended by 2,000 road-safety professionals, reveals attitudes towards adopting new technologies in an effort to improve safety on UK roads.
Although almost two thirds (60.3%) of attendees feel new technologies and road safety innovations are vital to improving driver behaviour and road safety, nearly half (44%) of attendees aren’t adopting new road safety innovations today – according to research conducted by Clearview Intelligence, the highways technology experts.
When it comes to barriers to implementation of new technologies, the majority of respondents rated financial constraints (42%) as the most significant obstacle due to the lack of available budgets for highways projects combined with Government constraints on infrastructure spending. A further one in three (32%) felt unwillingness to change and aversion to risk were key challenges.
These factors are also putting at risk the pace of innovation within the highways industry over the next five years. One in 10 highways professionals are still not planning to invest in road safety innovations over the next five years despite industry initiatives to tackle road safety including the Government’s Road Investment Strategy, which aims to ‘help prevent over 2,500 deaths or serious injuries on the network’ by 2020.
Nick Lanigan, Managing Director, Clearview Intelligence, comments: “Direct from the Highways UK event, this research proves that, against the backdrop of financial restraints and the sector’s general risk aversion, the highways industry acknowledges the need for innovative solutions to our road safety challenges – both today and into the future.
“Whether you’re from Highways England, a local authority or road contractor, all those involved in operating the UK road network ultimately want the same thing: smarter, safer and more efficient roads – and the solution is actually staring everyone in the face. There are tried and tested technologies which can be combined to deliver effective solutions that are proven to reduce road fatalities and injuries on UK roads.”
The news comes as Clearview Intelligence launches its SolarLite 2, a solar powered road stud designed to reduce night time road accidents by over 70%1. The new SolarLite 2 intelligent road stud provides improved guidance and hazard warning to drivers during the hours of darkness, even in poor weather conditions.
