A leading road safety organisation has called on the Government to go further with its new motoring policies to ensure millions of motorists are protected across the country.
Labour unveiled the long-awaited Road Safety Strategy last week as it looks to slash the number of serious accidents across Britain with tough new measures.
These include lowering the drink-drive limit, installing a minimum learning period for new drivers and requiring older motorists to get an eye test every three years when they renew their licence.
The Strategy aims to address a plan to reduce deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads by 65 per cent over the next 10 years, with a further target of 70 per cent for children under 16.
It comes amid fresh data showing that Great Britain has fallen in European road safety rankings as 22 countries across the continent have made more progress than the UK in reducing road deaths.
The new Strategy has largely been welcomed by road safety campaigners, although some have noted that the Government could go further to save lives.
JumpStart has called for all new cars to be fitted with an automated external defibrillator (AED) to improve access to the life-saving devices across the country.
More than 40,000 cardiac arrests take place outside of hospitals every year, with survival rates still below 10 per cent.
Experts have called for defibrillators to be installed in all new vehicles to save lives
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GETTY
The national campaign group states that having defibrillators inside new cars would create a network of life-saving devices in residential areas and on the road.
A spokesperson for JumpStart said the Government’s Road Safety Strategy was a “welcome step”, but noted that preventable deaths don’t stop at road collisions.
They added: “With survival from cardiac arrest stagnant for decades, the Government should respond to clear public demand and consider measures, including JumpStart’s proposal on vehicle-based defibrillator access, to save more lives.”
It pointed to data collected last year, which found that just under half of survey respondents didn’t think that the Government had done enough to improve road safety.
Experts say installing defibrillators in cars could save thousands of lives
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PAThis has been admitted by Local Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, who described the last 10 years as a “lost decade” for road safety measures.
Further research found that three in five motorists said the Government should prioritise smarter access to defibrillators in 2026 to protect lives.
The spokesperson continued, saying: “Bringing life-saving equipment closer to where emergencies occur would strengthen the Strategy’s ambition to reduce thousands of avoidable deaths.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson told GB News that safety on roads is a “key priority” for the Government and that measures are under “constant review”.
An example question on defibrillators in a theory test | DVSA
However, it confirmed that there are currently no plans to mandate the installation of defibrillators in new cars.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recently announced plans to include new questions in the theory test about defibrillators and CPR to boost knowledge among learner motorists.
Questions on basic CPR and defibrillator use will be added to the theory test in early 2026, with the move being backed by multiple organisations.
James Cant, CEO of Resuscitation Council UK, said: “By embedding these life-saving skills into such a widely taken assessment, we can help ensure that more people, from all communities, gain the knowledge and confidence to act during a cardiac arrest.”
