The politics of road death: critical discourse analysis of road safety policy in Britain between 1987-2021

Britain has some of the lowest road crash casualties globally (by head of population), yet tens of thousands of people are affected each year, and numbers have plateaued. Despite the impact of road trauma, there has been limited evaluation of Britain’s policy response. This research is the first to use Kingdon’s (1995) multiple streams analysis to evaluate agenda setting, analyse how policies were made or not made, and considers framing, the impact of political and organisational factors, and future policy. Critical discourse analysis evaluates primary data acquired via thirty-five interviews with policy participants, as well as secondary data from Parliamentary debates, and policy documents between 1987 and 2021. Three case studies on macro policy making, rural roads and young drivers are analysed. Two different time periods were identified: prior to 2002, the policy problem was accepted, policy solutions advanced, the policy window opened as political discourse was constructive, the policy streams coupled, and policy change resulted. After about 2003 the policy problem was not accepted as road deaths were framed as accidental and so unavoidable, solutions were contested, the politics stream flowed slowly, and from 2011, the tight fiscal environment, discarded targets, the shift towards localism and significant competition for attention, policy stability resulted. Competing policy images suggested complacency due to inaction, or Britain’s position was framed as one of the best in the world. Political and organisational factors impacted on whether there was policy change or stability. The key barrier was the politics stream, where the lack of visible public support, and indifference from the media resulted in limited attention and action from politicians. In conclusion, until the road safety community unites in engaging in how road safety can successfully compete with other policy areas, it is unlikely to persuade politicians it is worth the political capital of introducing unpopular or controversial changes, even if they save lives.