'Pace car' safety scheme a flop

A go-slow safety initiative taking its lead from pace cars in US motor-sport is failing to keep speeding drivers in check and cut road accidents.

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Initiative inspired by pace vehicles in series such as US-based NASCAR

31st January 2006

The Community Pace Scheme, in Doncaster, S Yorks, enlists drivers who pledge to stick to the limit. But Department for Transport figures suggest it could be doing more harm than good.

More than 250 residents have signed up since the scheme's launch in May 2003, and each has a special badge to put in their windscreen. The example these drivers set is expected to slow traffic, and in turn "reduce deaths and injuries on the roads", according to local councillor John Mounsey.

But while the number of casualties in car accidents has dropped overall in the UK since then, they have risen in South Yorkshire. The Association of British Drivers (ABD) claims that the scheme could see frustrated motorists tailgate and overtake even more. ABD boss Mark McArthur-Christie told us: "We understand the council is keen to cut accidents, but this is doing the opposite."

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