Tom Duckham of Redspeed International reflects on the predictable rise in summer road risk and argues for a more intelligent, data-led response that protects enjoyment without sacrificing safety…
Every summer, with longer days and hot weather, our roads feel different. Traffic volumes rise, leisure trips increase and speeds creep up. As a rider and driver, I notice the busier routes to coastal and rural destinations, more overtaking, more last-minute lane changes and a generally more impatient atmosphere. As someone working in road safety, I also see it in the data – a clear seasonal spike in collisions and casualties.
None of this is new. We know that the combination of good weather, school holidays and higher mileage creates conditions where risk taking is more likely and consequences can be more severe. We also know that certain groups – including young drivers and motorcyclists – are over-represented in serious crashes at this time of year. Yet our collective response is still largely static: fixed deployment patterns, generic campaigns and a reliance on drivers and riders simply “doing the right thing”.
The Department for Transport’s Road Safety Strategy, and its emphasis on the Safe System, gives us a better framework. It recognises that human beings are not perfect, that risk varies by time, place and behaviour, and that our systems must be resilient to those realities. But to turn that into reducing casualties, especially through the summer months, we need to sharpen up in our use of information, technology and enforcement.
First, we should treat seasonal risk as a dynamic phenomenon, not a backdrop. We already hold rich data on where and when collisions occur, how speeds change with weather and daylight, and which routes see the greatest influx of leisure traffic. Modern enforcement and analytics tools allow us to turn that information into targeted, time-bound interventions: adjusting deployment on peak weekends, focusing on specific routes and junctions, and pairing enforcement with tailored communication that can address risky behaviour.
Second, we can do more to align enforcement with enjoyment, rather than set them up as opposites. As a motorcyclist, I want to make the most of the summer – the long days, the sociable nature of a ride out, the chance to explore. But I also want to get home. Intelligent speed management, average speed systems on high-risk routes and visible yet fair enforcement can all help keep risk within survivable limits without stripping away the pleasure of riding. Done well, they support the DfT’s aim of safe mobility, not no mobility.
Third, we need to recognise that attitudes shift with the seasons. Sunshine and dry roads can breed overconfidence. After an extended dry spell, the first rainfall can also create particularly treacherous conditions, as oil, rubber residue and other contaminants on the road surface mix with water and reduce grip. Drivers and riders should not mistake a shower for a minor inconvenience: it is a point at which extra vigilance, greater following distances, smoother control inputs and more cautious speeds are essential. Familiar routes to favourite destinations can lull us into a false sense of security.
For companies like Redspeed International, this is a call to help our partners and clients move from generic “always on” enforcement towards genuinely adaptive strategies. For policymakers, it is an opportunity to show that road safety policy is alive to the rhythms of real life. Most important of all, it is a reminder for every rider that the best summer journeys are not the fastest or the most dramatic, but the ones that end safely, every time.
We cannot change the seasons, but we can refuse to treat the summer spike as inevitable. The information is available. The technology is proven. The locations, times and behaviours that create the greatest risk are increasingly clear.
The challenge now is to act on that knowledge — by targeting enforcement where and when it will prevent harm, by matching it with communications that encourage better choices – and by asking every driver and rider to recognise that good weather is not an invitation to take greater risks.
If we do that, this summer need not simply add another familiar pattern to the casualty statistics. It can become the point at which we demonstrate what a smarter, more responsive approach to road safety can achieve: fewer preventable collisions, fewer families receiving devastating news and more people arriving safely at the end of their journeys.