On 8 May 2013, before the start of a conference organised by PACTS (government road safety advisory council) for the UN’s Decade of Action, I met transport minister, Patrick McLoughlin. What did he think of Poynton? He looked blank. I briefed him, but still he looked blank. In his later “keynote” address, he blamed dangerous drivers, especially texters, as if they were exclusively responsible for “accidents”. He failed to attach any blame to the traffic control system which makes roads dangerous in the first place, and his “solutions” were all about enforcement. Not a word about traffic system reform or designing roads for safety. Depressing.
