Britain's road safety record is the envy of most other countries.

The safety strategies of successive governments have reduced deaths and serious injuries significantly.

Better vehicle design, seat belts, drink driving law enforcement and speed awareness have all played their part.

Labour’s current road safety strategy aims for a further 40 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries between 2000 and 2010. The first review of this target shows total deaths and serious injuries down by 17 per cent in 2002 – almost halfway there already.

But we still kill and seriously injure too many children on our roads.

This is why the strategy sets a tougher target of a 50 per cent reduction for children’s deaths and serious injuries. The 2002 figures show that a 33 per cent reduction has already been achieved.

In the case of adults, the two year reduction is mostly in serious injuries alone. We have reached a plateau in deaths – around 3,400 total fatalities a year.

So what can we do next to bring down decisively the numbers of deaths on our roads?

In 2003 more motorists died in motorcycling and drinking and driving situations than in the previous year.

There are representative groups of motorcyclists who engage helpfully in road safety discussions.  Government needs to listen to them and develop a specific action plan for safer motorcycling.

In my personal view, the maximum limit for alcohol in a driver’s blood should be reduced from 80 mg (in 100 ml of blood) to 50 mg.

The government has previously declined to do this, but advertising campaigns alone are not reducing deaths from drink driving. Alcohol is robbing drivers of their good sense and safety awareness. With a lower limit will come safer driving.

Speed cameras are successfully enforcing speed limits. The greater certainty of detection will deter motorists from breaking speed limits.
With higher speeds there are more crashes. Research suggests that a five per cent reduction in crashes can be achieved for each one mph reduction in average speed.

Of course speed cameras alone cannot deliver the government’s casualty reduction targets. This is why I started with other measures that I support. Cameras cannot detect inappropriate speeding as opposed to excessive speeding.

Some argue that the police have cut officer numbers engaged in road traffic policing because of speed cameras.

This is not correct – the decline in road traffic police numbers is long standing, whereas cameras are fairly recent.

But I believe that police numbers directly engaged in road traffic policing have fallen to an unacceptable low.

Chief constables should reassess their priorities and increase the numbers.

The government should amend its national policing plan to afford a higher priority to road traffic policing.

Whenever the public are consulted on this matter, by crime and disorder reduction partnerships, they give their backing to a greater police presence on our roads.

David Kidney is Labour MP for Stafford.