UK Government announces new Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB)

This is an important step to achieve Vision Zero, point 4 of our Strategy

From the Government’s announcement:

• The government will recruit a specialised team of inspectors to join the country’s first ever Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB), looking at
  • how and why incidents happen
    • The branch will investigate themes in the causes of collisions, as well as specific incidents of concern, to learn valuable road safety lessons.
      • It will make independent safety recommendations to organisations, such as government and police forces, to better shape the future of road safety policy and provide better, greener and safer journeys for people right across the country.
  • to provide real insight into how new technologies – such as self-driving and electric vehicles – can be rolled out on our roads.
    • The specialised unit will also provide vital insight into safety trends related to new and evolving technologies, which could include self-driving vehicles, e-scooters and electric vehicles (EVs), to ensure the country maintains some of the highest road safety standards in the world and exciting new technology is deployed safely.
• Currently, data and evidence is collated using in-depth study programmes, the Collision Reporting and Sharing System (CRASH), Forensic Collision Investigation reports and Prevention of Future Death reports.
  • Government expects the RSIB to use this data alongside that from insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, the emergency services and the NHS to deepen the body of evidence on incident causes and improve road safety interventions even further nationwide.
• The branch will not identify blame or liability and so does not replace police investigation. It will instead draw on all the available evidence to make recommendations to improve road safety and mitigate or prevent similar incidents in the future.
• The Department for Transport expects to include measures to enable the creation of the branch in the forthcoming Transport Bill.

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