Deaths on Britain's roads continue to stagnate

Department for Transport provisional figures for 2019 show that 1,748 people were killed on the roads in Great Britain last year, a figure which has flatlined since 2012 when 1,754 people were killed. 25,975 people were also seriously injured on the roads, however, government statistics state that a direct comparison with previous years is not possible due to changes in how such injuries are recorded by the police.

In the week that the Government announced a ‘£2bn cycling and walking revolution’, the Department for Transport data also highlights that the number of pedestrians and cyclists deaths in 2019 (560 in total) has not improved over the past decade. The vulnerability of people walking and cycling, who have a fatality rate more than 20 times that of someone in a car, highlights the urgent need for action to address the dangers of motor traffic, as the government seeks to encourage more people to choose to walk or cycle.

Commenting, Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake said, “For nearly a decade now, we have seen an appalling stagnation in the number of deaths on our roads and it’s high-time for the government to take responsibility and act. We need to rid our roads of dangerous drink and drug driving, introduce safe speeds in our towns, cities and rural areas and reinvigorate roads policing, which has been decimated by funding cuts. The Government must commit to a Vision Zero approach and the ambition to eliminate the scourge of death and serious injury from our roads for good.

“The Government’s ambition to get more people cycling and walking is a noble one, but this will only be realised if we have safe roads that people can be confident to travel on. With 76 people being killed or seriously injured on the roads every day, 28 of which are people cycling or walking, we are a long long way from achieving this goal.”