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Deaths and injuries on roads increase in 2014, Government report says
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2015 |
Deaths on British roads increased by 4% to 1775 in 2014, according to the Government’s Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain Report.
Despite this, 2014’s total was the third lowest on record after 2012 and 2013. There were 45% fewer fatalities in last year than in 2005, the Department for Transport said.
Pedestrians accounted for three quarters of the increase in fatalities – up from 398 in 2013 to 446 in 2014.
The number of people seriously injured in reported road traffic accidents increased by 5% to 22,807 in 2014 compared to 2013’s figure, while there was a total of 194,477 casualties of all severities in reported road traffic accidents during 2014, which the DfT said was the first increase in overall casualties since 1997.
The number of people killed on built-up roads increased by 9.1% to 783 fatalities in 2014, while there were 96 fatalities on motorways last year. The number of seriously injured casualties on motorways increased for the second year in a row by 8.8% to 718.
Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research said manufacturers should develop better pedestrian safety systems: “We need better pedestrian facilities to segregate traffic and vulnerable users where speeds are high, and campaigns to educate pedestrians themselves as they are most often at fault in crashes,” he said.
“The Government must take the bull by the horns on this, and it can start by reintroducing ambitious casualty reduction targets, with an ultimate aim of reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads to zero. Every road death causes unimaginable human suffering, and every road death is preventable,” said Ed Morrow, campaigns officer for Brake.
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