The number of people killed on the roads in Great Britain has increased since last year, according to new figures published by the Department for Transport.
“Reported road casualties Great Britain”, an annual report, shows that 1,792 people were killed in collisions last year, up four percent since 2015 and the highest annual total since 2011. A total of 24,101 people were seriously injured last year, an increase of nine per cent on the previous year.
The Government is attributing the increase in serious injuries to the fact that some police forces now collect and analyse data in different ways. Yet, road safety organisations argue that action is needed to reverse the trend.
“Today’s figures graphically illustrate the daily carnage taking place on roads across Britain. On average, five people continue to lose their lives each and every day – a deeply worrying figure which has not improved for some six years,” said Jason Wakeford, Director of Campaigns for Brake, the road safety charity. “Progress on road safety has stalled, pressing the need for a road collision investigation branch, similar to those already in existence for air, rail and sea, so that lessons can be learned to prevent future crashes. Only through in-depth investigation, at a national level, can solutions be found to stem the needless deaths on the roads every day.”
RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams added: “Simply because there is more traffic on our roads does not mean that we should accept that road deaths will inevitably go up. Significant progress was made in reducing road deaths between 2006 and 2010, but since then figures have at first plateaued, and are now rising.
“Away from government a lot organisations are working hard to improve road safety – from the internationally-focused Project Edward, the FIA’s #ParkYourPhone campaign, through to countless campaigns by charities and local authorities and even the RAC’s own Be Phone Smart campaign. These can all have a tangible impact on future road casualty numbers, but there is absolutely no question that the Government needs to redouble its efforts to ensure that progress is once again made to bring road deaths down. This includes giving its THINK! campaign the resources it needs to play a much greater role in doing this.
“Motorists can also play their own part by insisting their new cars are fitted with Autonomous (or Automatic) Emergency Braking, a technology which has significant potential to help reduce casualties in years to come. This is a message being promoted by a new road safety consortium led by IAM Roadsmart, of which the RAC is a member. We also encourage drivers to study EuroNCAP ratings to select a car that performs best in the event of a crash.”
