Rise in UK road deaths

Annual casualty figures for the UK show the first increase in road deaths since 2003. The figures for 2011, published by the Department for Transport (DfT), show that road deaths rose by 3%, from 1,850 in 2010 to 1,901 in 2011. Serious injuries increased by 2%, rising from 22,660 in 2010 to 23,122 in 2011; the first annual increase since 1994. Pedestrians saw the biggest increase in deaths, with a 12% rise in fatalities last year, from the previous 405 to 453 in 2011. Serious injuries for cyclists rose from 2,660 in 2010 to 3,085 in 2011; a 16% increase, but fatalities remained similar to last year; 111 deaths in 2010 compared to 107 in 2011; a 4% reduction. Child deaths rose by 9% from 55 in 2010 to 60 in 2011, although at 19,474, the overall number of child casualties barely changed between 2010 and 2011.

Several road safety groups have commented on the figures. Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at RoSPA, 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 follows three years where deaths reduced by several hundred per year. We are 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.”

Julie Townsend, Brake deputy chief executive, said, “It is unacceptable and shameful that after years of progress in road safety and consistent casualty reductions, we are now seeing an increase in people dying and being maimed on our roads. It is vital the government wakes up to the very real and human consequences of inadequate action on road safety and moves quickly to address the biggest killers on our roads. We need decisive policies on young driver safety and drink driving, and we need investment in measures to protect people on foot and bicycles.”

IAM chief executive, Simon Best, said, “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.”

Dr Joanne Marden, director of the Road Safety Foundation, said, “We must get safety policies back on track. It means persuading authorities to recognise the long-term benefits of investing to bring single carriageway ‘A’ roads up to at least 3-star safety standards by 2020. Our annual program of mapping and tracking road safety risk on Britain’s roads shows that simple and relatively low cost measures, such as signing, lining and marking, can pay back the costs of investment in weeks. Today’s sharp warning reminds Britain that it cannot sit on its laurels for policies it led 20 years ago.”

29 June 2012