To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) for his assessment of the impact of road safety advertising in reducing the number of deaths on our roads; and (ii) to detail the amount his Department has spent on such advertising in each of the last five years.

Statistics demonstrate that over 95% of road traffic collisions where someone is killed or seriously injured is caused by human error/poor decision making. That means the majority of road deaths and serious injuries are avoidable. The errors are mainly, careless/inattention, drink or drug driving, excess speed for the conditions or the road and in the event of a crash not wearing a seatbelt. For this reason, my Department’s road safety campaigns focus on influencing road user behaviour leading to better choices by road users and they play a significant role in joint efforts by all road safety partners in reducing the number of people killed on roads here.

One of the best ways to ensure safety on our roads and fulfil our long-term goal of eliminating death and serious injury by 2050, is by changing road user behaviour. As road users we all have a personal responsibility to behave in a way that keeps ourselves and others safe. The sad reality is that if we do not change our own attitudes when we are using the roads, our death toll will continue to increase. Last month, I launched the ‘RoadWise Up’ digital advertising campaign and road safety messaging is also promoted by my Department on social media platforms, primarily through ShareTheRoadToZero.com I would encourage everyone to endorse and share this messaging, and to take the road safety pledge.

The amount my Department has spent on road safety advertising in each of the last five years is detailed below. The amount for 2023/24 is inclusive of sponsorship funding provided by the Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership.

YEAR TOTAL SPEND

2019/20 £987,767.97

2020/21 £1,387,647.89

2021/22 £1,472,397.09

2022/23 -

2023/24 £476,000.00

It has been well documented, that due to financial pressures my department was unable to allocate a budget for road safety advertising for financial years 2022/23 and a limited budget in 2023/24