A deterioration in policing on the roads in England and Wales – including a drop in funding, breathalyser tests and fines for mobile phone use and failing to wear seatbelts – is behind a rise in fatal incidents, a damning report has revealed. Road safety was not prominent enough in the consciousness of many politicians, police leaders and the public, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) warned, adding this was reflected in the low priority some forces and police and crime commissioners gave to roads policing. A steady decline in deaths caused by road traffic collisions was reversed around 2013. It has been rising slowly since, from about 1,541 deaths in 2013 to 1,624 in 2018. Between 2013 and 2019, spending on roads policing fell 34% in real terms, compared with about 6.1% across all police functions. Between 2015 and 2018, the number of breathalyser tests carried out in England and Wales dropped by 25%, from 425,325 to 320,988, which corresponded with a rise in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions where the driver was over the legal blood alcohol limit. There was also an upward trend in car occupants being killed who were not wearing seatbelts. In 2013, just under 20% of car occupants killed in collisions were found to have not been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision. By 2018, this figure had risen to just under 26%. Over the same period, the number of fixed penalty notices issued for not wearing a seatbelt went down by 75%, from roughly 86,300 to about 21,600. Between 2011 and 2017 the number of fixed penalty notices issued for using a handheld mobile phone while driving dropped by just over 76%, from about 162,400 tickets to about 38,600. During the same period the number of mobile-phone-related collisions remained broadly stable. The inspector of constabulary, Matt Parr, said: “Our inspection suggests that roads policing, despite the number of road deaths plateauing and likely to increase, is seen as less of a priority than it should be. “We found that almost half of local crime plans didn’t include reference to roads policing. This, along with an unclear national strategy, is doing little to help reduce the number of deaths and life-changing accidents which occur on our roads. “Spending on roads policing has been cut by 34% resulting in fewer officers dealing with offences that cause road deaths. However, there is a clear, and pressing, need for government, police and crime commissioners, chief officers, and the College of Policing to recognise the importance of roads policing in reducing death on the roads. “We have made recommendations to help the police improve the effectiveness of roads policing in England and Wales. In doing so, we are clear, roads policing is not optional.” The inspectorate has recommended chief constables make sure their force is able to identify risks and threats on the road network within their areas and that there is an evaluation of road safety initiatives to establish their effectiveness.