Road Safety

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 2 May 2018.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:33, 2 May 2018

Well, the Member is absolutely right—whilst good progress is being made against many of the targets, for example targets concerning young people and overall the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on the roads, the statistics relating to motor cyclists remain stubborn and of grave concern to us. There's only been a 1 per cent reduction, so as a consequence proportion continues to increase. In order to address this particular problem—and I'm aware that many Members in this Chamber are able to point to specific locations where motor cyclists are at great danger—we're working with Go Safe and other partners within the police force to develop a data analysis capacity, in order to better inform interventions. We've also begun discussions with a national not-for-profit road safety organisation about potential for their Two Wheels motor cycling courses to operate here in Wales. We believe that better training—an extension of the training that's already provided—is absolutely essential to reduce those killed or seriously injured figures. And we're also working with colleagues in the department for education on the potential to include road safety content in the health and well-being area of the learning experience. I think, again, the sooner that we can introduce responsible methods, responsible behaviours, in terms of cycling and motor cycling, the better, and doing it at school makes perfect sense.