Road casualty stats comment25 Jun 2009

Commenting on the release of the latest road casualty figures by the Department for Transport, Professor Stephen Glaister, Director of the RAC Foundation, said:

“The sharp reduction in those killed on the nation’s roads is very significant and we welcome the news, though we share the Department’s disappointment that there was a small rise in the number of children being killed.”

“What is not immediately clear is why such a fall has been achieved now. There might be some link between this reduction and the first drop in overall traffic numbers since 1979 because of the recession.”

“The big challenge is to maintain the overall downward trend in deaths and injuries on the roads against a backdrop of an expected rise in traffic in the coming years.”