1,901 people killed on roads in 2011
After a decline every year since 2003 the number people killed on Britain’s roads increased in 2011 to 1,901. This compares to the 1,850 people who died the year before.
The Department for Transport figures also show that the number of people killed or seriously injured also rose year on year: from 24,510 to 25,023.
The total number of casualties dropped slightly from 208,648 to 203,950.
There was a 12% increase in pedestrian fatalities to 453.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“These figures are sobering. We have got used to falling numbers of deaths on the roads, but this shows casualty reduction is not a one way street. It is notable that car drivers and passengers make up less than half of those killed with pedestrians in particular also paying a heavy price in terms of lives lost. Worryingly, the number of people on foot who have died increased by 12% in 2011.
“We need to know why this is; is it due to more and more people being distracted by using mobile phones and listening to music? Most of these deaths will have been on urban roads managed by local authorities, the same local authorities for whom central government has removed casualty reduction targets and slashed road safety budgets. The concern is that there is a direct link between these factors.”
The change cannot be accounted for by a rise in traffic as the volume in 2011 (303.3 billion miles) was only marginally up on the previous year (303.2 billion miles).
ENDS
Contact:
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation
[email protected] | 07711 776448 | 020 77473445