Large increase in number of serious road accidents in the county last year

SOME 368 people were seriously hurt or killed on Leicester’s roads in 2018, according to new data from the Department for Transport.

That is up from a figure of 280 in 2017.

The overall number of casualties - including those only slightly injured - fell from 2,127 in 2017 to 2,073 in 2018.

Thirty-two people were killed on the roads, up from twenty the previous year.

Nationally, there were 1,782 road deaths in 2018, the figures show.

This represents a one per cent decrease from the previous year, 2017.

Among older people, however, the number of deaths rose by five per cent to 586.

The government suggested that was because older people were increasingly driving cars or motorbikes.

Overall, the number of casualties of all severity - including minor injuries - dropped by six per cent to 160,378 in 2018.

The number of severe injuries fell to 25,484 in 2018.

Changes to the way police record injuries mean it is not possible to compare figures for 2017 and 2018 to the years before 2015.

Police also note that a large number of road accidents are not reported to them, so the actual figures for the number of casualties are likely to be much higher.

Samuel Nahk, senior public affairs officer at road safety charity Brake, said: “Once again, we are talking about a stagnation in Britain’s road safety record, a situation which must change.

“Whilst the Government’s new road safety action plan set out last week is a step in the right direction, there is always more that can be done to end the unacceptable number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

“We are calling for a clear commitment by Government to a Vision Zero approach, striving to eliminate road death and serious injury, with ambitious targets set out to achieving this goal.

“We would never accept such carnage in rail or aviation so why should we on the road?”

A spokesperson from the Department for Transport said: “The UK has some of the safest roads in the world and the number of deaths has fallen by 30 per cent since 2008.

“Just last week, we announced our comprehensive Road Safety Statement, setting out 74 actions we will take over the next two years to help reduce the number of people who are killed or injured on our roads”.