Road deaths rise by 20pc in year

BUT NUMBER OF NON-FATAL INJURIES FALLS IN REGION

THE number of people killed on Greater Manchester’s roads has risen by 20 per cent in a year.

Some 54 drivers, passengers, pedestrians or cyclists died in road accidents in the 12 months to June 2019. That is up from 45 in the 12 months to June 2018.

The data, published by the Department for Transport, showed a similar rise across Great Britain as a whole.

Nationally, there were 1,870 deaths in the year to June 2019 – up from 1,794 in the previous 12 months.

It suggests a worrying reversal of the previous trend, which saw deaths cut from an average of 2,815 a year in 2005-2009.

While the number of deaths on the road may have risen in Greater

Manchester, the number of people suffering non-fatal injuries has fallen. Some 3,654 people suffered slight injuries in road accidents in the year to June 2019, down from 4,410 in the year to June 2018. The number of serious – but nonfatal – injuries fell from 766 to 561. The figures cover all incidents recorded by Greater Manchester police. There is currently no breakdown of whether the fatalities on the city-region’s roads were drivers, passengers, pedestrians or cyclists. Nationally, however, we know that most people killed or injured on the roads are in a car at the time. Of the 74,680 people who died or sustained injury in the first six months of 2019, 42,900 were car drivers or passengers. A further 10,620 were pedestrians – of whom 2,650, or more than a quarter, were children – while 8,250 were cyclists, and 8,010 were motorcyclists.

In their analysis of the national figures, the DfT said the four per cent increase in deaths was not statistically significant and was ‘likely… a result of natural variation.’

But a spokesman for road safety charity Brake said: “It is shocking to see the number of people dying on our roads increasing.

“Britain’s road safety record has been stagnant for several years and now appears to be deteriorating, a situation which is unacceptable and must change. Every death and serious injury on our roads is an entirely preventable tragedy.

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

A spokesman for IAMRoadSmart said: “IAM RoadSmart are really concerned that 2019 is shaping up to be yet another year of zero progress in reducing road deaths in the UK.”

54 Deaths on Greater Manchester’s roads in 12 months to June 2019