Fewer road deaths than in year before pandemic

FEWER people were killed or injured on Portsmouth’s roads in 2021 than in the year before the pandemic, new figures show.

Thecoronaviruspandemic sawroadcasualtiesdropacross Great Britain as drivers stayed athomeduringlockdowns,but charitieshavewarnedtheGovernment must do more tackle an uptick in injuries from traffic accidents.

Provisionalfiguresfromthe DepartmentforTransportsuggest

there were 481 road casualtiesinPortsmouthin2021–a drop from 495 the year before, and fewer than the 563 in 2019.

Fewerpeoplewerekilledon the area's roads last year – one person died, while four were killed in 2020.

Meanwhile, 150 serious injuries were recorded – an increaseontheyearbefore,when 127 people were badly hurt.

This week, tens of thousands of children marched for safe streets in the UK in a campaign organised by Brake, a road safety charity.

National figures show 2,261 children were injured and 33 killed on Britain’s streets last year.

Scott Williams, head of programme delivery at Brake, said every child should have the right to walk in their neighbourhood without fear of traffic or pollution.

‘It is vital that children can walk safely in the places where they live.’ he added.

Overall, across Great Britain there were 127,967 road casualties in 2021 – an 11 per cent rise on the year before – while 1,560 people were killed.

Of those who died, 686 were car users, but 363 pedestrians and 299 motorcyclists were also killed.

The number of pedal cyclists who lost their lives dropped by 20 per cent from 141 in 2020 to 113 last year.