Lord Whitty (John Lawrence Whitty) has been appointed chairman of the Road Safety Foundation, taking over from Lord Dubs who has led the charity since 2007.

Larry Whitty became a Life Peer in 1996.  From 2001 to 2005 he served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions where his responsibilities included roads and road safety.  He was also chair of Consumer Focus 2006-2011, the organisation campaigning for a fair deal for consumers in England, Wales, Scotland.

“I am delighted to be taking on this role at this time,” says Lord Whitty.  “As government moves to legislate so that road users are treated as customers, there is a pressing need to ensure the safety of the road infrastructure we pay for is independently measured and published to international norms.  We should not be driving 5-star cars on 1- and 2-star roads.”

Lord Whitty went on to pay tribute to Lord Dubs: “Alf has been a tireless advocate who has chaired the Road Safety Foundation with wisdom and generosity for the last 7 years.  His well attended annual briefings in Parliament have been a hallmark of his Chairmanship raising understanding of how road deaths can be reduced towards zero by combining action on safer driving, safe vehicles and safer roads.”