Road deaths on the rise

The number of people killed on Britain’s roads rose last year for the first time since 2003. Department for Transport figures show 1,901 people died in 2011, compared to 1,850 in 2010 – an increase of three per cent.

The number of people seriously injured on the roads also increased last year, from 24,510 in 2010 to 25,023 in 2011. It marks the first increase since 1994.

There was a shocking 12 per cent rise in the number of pedestrians killed on the road, rising from 405 in 2010 to 453 in 2011.

Pedestrians accounted for 24 per cent of all the 1,901 road deaths last year, while 46 per cent of those killed were car drivers, 19 per cent were motorcyclists, five per cent were cyclists and the remainder were in buses, coaches and lorries.

Motoring and safety groups condemned the figures and heavily criticised the Government for not prioritising road safety.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) says local councils cut their road safety budgets by 15 per cent during 2011. IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “It is unacceptable that road deaths and serious injuries rose last year, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists who saw the greatest rises. Road accidents usually drop during an economic recession, so this rise after continuous reductions over the last ten years, is particularly concerning. 

“Ministers should take this as a serious warning. Cutting road safety education, scrapping casualty targets, and reductions in local authority spending all suggest that road safety isn’t a major priority for this government.”

The Department for Transport says the increase should be seen against a general downward trend since the 1970s. And Transport Secretary Justine Greening suggested the extreme weather at the end of 2010 could have contributed to the increase. 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Road Accidents’ head of road safety, Kevin Clinton, said: “After a long period of deaths falling year on year, we are very disturbed that they have risen, particularly among children and pedestrians. We are concerned that this may be the end of the downwards trend in people being killed on our roads because this is the first time that annual road deaths have risen since 2003 and follows three years where deaths reduced by several hundred per year. 

“RoSPA is concerned that reduced public spending on road safety, especially cuts to local authority and road policing budgets, may be partly to blame. The Government and the road safety profession need to urgently get together to understand why road deaths have now started to rise.”