Transport: Technology promises safer roads

New technology will dramatically cut road deaths and solve transport congestion problems, says a report out today. By 2020, pedestrians could even be equipped to photograph an attacker and relay the picture to the police.

Hi-tech systems will also lead to a "railway renaissance", said the report produced by the Institution of Civil Engineers on behalf of the Engineering Council. Entitled A Vision for Transport 2020, the report predicts and recommends:

Collision-avoidance systems for cars and speed-limiting electronic devices on cars;

Closed-circuit television cameras in each street to combat crime;

Better transport links, including improved access to ports;

Improved walking and cycling facilities.

Professor Tony Ridley, chairman of the steering group which produced the report, said: "There certainly is a mass of transport problems as we look towards the year 2020 and we need to act to stem these problems. We could develop our society in a way that is less dependent on motorised transport. We have the techniques and technologies."