Government launches investigation branch for traffic incidents, including those involving e-scooters

The UK Government has announced the launch of a new investigation branch to explore road traffic incidents, including crashes involving e-scooters.

Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) has been established to investigation incidents on the roads and to provide insight to make the streets safer. 

The Government said it will recruit a specialised team of inspectors, who will also explore how new technologies can be rolled out on the roads.  

Along with electric vehicles and self-driving cars, the RSIB will also provide insight into safety trends for e-scooters, the Government said, and it will make independent safety recommendations to Ministers and the police to shape the future of road safety policy.  

 Roads minister Baroness Vere said: “The UK may have some of the safest roads in the world, but tragedies still happen and any injury or death on our road network is one too many.

“That’s why we’re establishing the road safety investigation branch, so we can boost safety for road-users even further and also bring safety measures in line with other modes of transport and the future of travel.”

Road collisions result in significantly more deaths in Great Britain than other modes of transport, but until now there has been no independent body to investigate incidents like there is in air, rail, and maritime incidents.

The Department for Transport plans to include the launch of the RSIB in the upcoming Transport Bill, which will also create a new vehicle category for electric scooters, paving the way for the legalisation of private-use e-scooters on public roads.   

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RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: “Over the past four years the Foundation has run the Road Collision investigation Project with funding from government and National Highways. Working with three police forces and many other experts we have demonstrated the strong case for a fresh way of investigating death and injury on the road network which is why we are delighted with this announcement.

“We look forward to working further with the Government to get the branch set up and make our roads safer still.”