Government “needs to take action” as road deaths plateau..
As a trend for falling road deaths continues to level out, campaigners say the government isn’t doing enough to make Britain’s roads safer
A steady decline in road deaths has stalled in recent years because the Government is not doing enough to improve safety on Britain’s roads.
That’s the verdict of road safety charity Brake, after official figures revealed that the number of road deaths has remained relatively steady for a third consecutive year.
From 2007 to 2010, annual road deaths dropped by 1,096. But according to the Government’s annual road casualties report, the latest edition of which was published yesterday, the annual figure fell by just 137 from 2010 to 2013, an eighth of that achieved in the previous three years.
“Road casualties in the UK are falling – but they are not falling nearly fast enough. Since 2010, progress has stalled dramatically,” said Julie Townshend, Brake’s deputy chief executive.
“At this rate, it will be many more decades before we reach the only acceptable number of casualties on our roads, and that number is zero. The government needs to take far more proactive action to drive casualties down faster.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said that the reason for the latest trend is “not clear”.
“Since 1979, killed and seriously injured casualties have followed similar long-term trends, but there have been periods where the rate of decline in one has been steeper than the other,” the spokesperson added.
“Fatalities are now at their lowest level since records began in 1926, and the total number of casualties is down six per cent from 2012.”