Andy Burnham has been told to make two major changes to UK roads as one of his first priorities as Prime Minister. As part of a new manifesto directly aimed at the new Labour leader, Tom Jervis, consumer writer at Auto Express, suggested that making sure roads were “properly policed” was now a top priority.
Two key changes urged
He has called on the new Prime Minister to make two changes as part of a tough new crackdown on road safety, with a call for more police officers on the streets and tougher penalties to be introduced.
More police patrols could help reduce speeding, with the number of road users receiving penalty points for driving too quickly having massively increased. Previous data has suggested that the number of drivers receiving penalty points for speeding was up from 678,367 in 2022 to 939,519 in 2025, a 32% increase.
Drug driving offences soar
Drug driving is also a massive issue, with the number of convictions increasing from just 4,824 in 2016 to 19,709 in 2024.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Tom said: “The increase in offences may be influenced by the growing number of cameras, but there is still a general feeling that car crime has been decriminalised as there are now so few traffic police out on patrol and offenders seem to face very few repercussions.
“We want to see more police officers out on patrol and tougher enforcement and sentencing for repeat drink/drug driving offenders, in order to make our roads safer for all.”
Government consultation underway
Despite the warnings, it seems officials are already looking at tightening a series of motoring penalties. Earlier this year, the Department for Transport opened a consultation into a series of proposed enforcement changes, with speeding and drink/drug driving explicitly mentioned.
The DfT previously asked stakeholders whether the current statutory time limit of six months for speeding offences should be changed to 18 months. Meanwhile, the DfT also asked whether the minimum disqualification period for death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, or being in charge of a motor vehicle while under the influence of drink or drugs, needed to change.
