Launching the Road Safety Investigation Branch

The Government has announced plans to recruit a new specialised team to form a new independent body known as the Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) that will investigate road collisions on a wide scale.

The decision to launch the RSIB follows a public consultation where significant support was shown for the establishment of such a body came during public consultation.

The aim of the RSIB is to bring road traffic in line with other forms of transport such as rail and air which already have similar independent bodies to investigate accidents. It is expected that the measures needed to launch the RSIB will be coming in the new Transport Bill.

RSIB will investigate causes of collisions and specific incidents as to learn overall safety lessons. They will also be looking at new road technologies such as self-driving vehicles and how they can be safely used on roads. Information gathered will be used to make recommendations for the government and police forces to better shape the future of road policy.

The RSIB will be using the existing Collision Reporting and Sharing System (Crash), Forensic Collision Investigation reports and Prevention of Future Deaths reports alongside evidence from insurance companies, vehicle manufacturers, emergency services and the NHS to gain a deeper understanding of themes of collisions.

Overall it is important to note that the RSIB will not assign blame or liability in specific cases and will not be a replacement for police investigation but rather it is an additional body that will attempt to use evidence from existing collisions to prevent further collisions in the future.

You can find more about the launch of the RSIB at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-countrys-first-ever-investigation-branch-focused-on-road-safety

Road collisions cause significantly more deaths than other modes of transport, so it is important that organisations have suitable policies and procedures in place to manage the safety of any employees who drive for work. Please speak to your normal PIB Risk Management contact or get in touch using the form below if you have any questions or would like assistance with developing policies and procedures for managing occupational road risks.