Wales’ New Road Safety Strategy: Reducing Serious Injury In Wales

In March 2026, the Welsh Government published its Road Safety Partnership Plan 2026 - 2040, setting out an ambitious vision to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Welsh roads.

Despite the significance of the proposals, the publication of the Plan appears to have attracted relatively little public discussion when compared with many other transport and political issues. Yet for those who support people living with catastrophic injuries, and families whose loved ones have been killed on Welsh roads, the issues it seeks to address could hardly be more important.

Carlos Land, Director – Catastrophic Injury at JCP Solicitors, gives his take on the proposals.

What is the New Welsh Road Safety Plan?

The Welsh Government's Road Safety Partnership Plan 2026–2040 is a long-term strategy designed to improve road safety across Wales. Published in March 2026, it adopts the internationally recognised Vision Zero philosophy and a Safe System approach, recognising that while human beings will inevitably make mistakes, roads, vehicles and transport systems should be designed so that those mistakes do not result in death or life-changing injury.

The Plan focuses on four broad priorities:

• Enhancing the road environment through safer infrastructure, better road design and speed management.
• Improving vehicle safety through higher standards and increased use of safety technology.
• Supporting safer road user behaviour through education, training and enforcement.
• Improving responses to collisions, including emergency care and support for those affected by road trauma.

The Welsh Government's stated ambition is not simply to reduce fatalities, but also to reduce the number of people who suffer life-changing injuries on Welsh roads. As someone who represents individuals living with catastrophic injuries and families bereaved by fatal road traffic collisions, that particular focus is both welcome and important.

Three Positive Steps in the New Welsh Road Safety Strategy

While fatalities understandably attract significant public and media attention, the lifelong impact of serious injuries are often overlooked. Serious injuries can include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, severe orthopaedic injuries and significant psychological trauma. Some people will never return to the life they enjoyed before a collision. Others may regain a degree of independence but continue living with physical, cognitive or emotional difficulties for decades.

Many of the most profound consequences are invisible. A person may look physically well yet struggle with memory problems, fatigue, impaired concentration, emotional regulation, anxiety or depression. Careers are interrupted or cut short. Relationships come under strain as parents become carers, spouses become advocates, children take on responsibilities beyond their years. What once seemed certain suddenly becomes uncertain.

Understanding the catastrophic effect a serious injury can have on victims and their families is essential if we are to properly assess the impact of the strategy.

The Welsh Government's Road Safety Partnership Plan is ambitious in both its scope and its objectives. While time will tell how successful it proves to be, there are three aspects of the strategy that are particularly encouraging from the perspective of those who support people living with life-changing injuries.

1. A Recognition That Serious Injury Matters

Often, discussions around road safety focus solely on those who lose their lives. Yet many survivors face lifelong consequences, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and chronic pain conditions that affect every aspect of their daily lives.

2. A Focus on Safer Systems Rather Than Blame

As lawyers, we regularly see the devastating consequences that can arise from a lapse in concentration, a misjudgement or a failure to appreciate a risk. While individual responsibility remains essential, safer roads, safer vehicles and safer transport systems can all play a role in reducing the severity of outcomes when mistakes do occur.

3. Improved Support After a Collision

For people living with catastrophic injuries, what happens in the hours, days and months following a collision can have a profound effect on long-term recovery. Early access to medical treatment, rehabilitation and specialist support can be life changing.

Lessons from the 20mph Debate

The Welsh Government's new Road Safety Strategy adopts the same underlying philosophy as the controversial 20mph policy, introduced in September 2023.  It was greeted with significant public opposition and prompted a substantial review by the Welsh Government who issued revised guidance allowing local authorities to identify specific roads that could return to 30mph.

The policy was therefore refined, although not abandoned altogether. Despite the controversy, emerging evidence suggests that lower speeds have contributed to a reduction in collisions and casualties.

From a catastrophic injury perspective, the debate highlights an important point. Road safety measures are often judged by their inconvenience or popularity in the short term. However, those who have witnessed the consequences of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation or fatal collisions inevitably view such measures through a different lens. Even relatively small reductions in collision speeds can make the difference between a minor injury and a life-changing one.

The Real Measure of Success

The real test of the strategy will not be the publication of plans and targets, but whether fewer Welsh families find themselves dealing with the consequences of catastrophic injury in the years ahead.

Serious Injury, Accountability and Negligence

While the Welsh Government's strategy rightly focuses on prevention, it is important to recognise that many serious road traffic collisions could be avoided. In many cases, life-changing injuries occur because a driver was distracted, impaired by drink or drugs, travelling too fast for the conditions, failed to observe a vulnerable road user, or simply failed to exercise reasonable care.

Where that happens, both the criminal and civil justice systems have an important role to play: the criminal justice system helps ensure accountability where criminal offences have been committed, and the civil justice system can help secure the rehabilitation, care, equipment, accommodation and financial support that seriously injured people may need.

Prevention Matters More Than Compensation

Ultimately, the Welsh Government's strategy is focused on prevention. That is something that should be welcomed. No amount of compensation can reverse a spinal cord injury, restore a lost limb or remove the lifelong consequences of a severe brain injury.

As lawyers, we help injured people secure the support they need after life-changing collisions. However, the greatest measure of success will always be preventing those injuries from occurring in the first place.

For advice and guidance on personal injury or medical negligence, JCP Solicitors can help. Email Carlos Land, Director – Catastrophic Injury on carlos.land@jcpsolicitors.co.uk or call 03333 209244.