Crashes on smart motorways and by cars using autonomous technology are set to be investigated by a new independent body focused on road safety. The Road Safety Investigation Branch (RSIB) launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) will examine collisions on all types of UK roads.
Similar stand-alone organisations already exist to investigate air, maritime and rail accidents, but significantly more people are killed on roads than other modes of transport. There have been long-standing fears about the safety of smart motorways following fatal incidents where vehicles stopped in live lanes were hit from behind.
The RSIB will not analyse every road crash but Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, told the PA news agency it must focus on “recurring issues” such as “concerns about collisions on motorways where the hard shoulder has been turned into a running lane”.
