UK road deaths down 14%

by Gill Montia

Story link: UK road deaths down 14%

The Department for Transport (DfT) has published encouraging statistics on UK road accident casualties for 2008.

The number of people killed on Britain’s roads fell by 14%, from 2,946 in 2007 to 2,538 last year.

In total there were just under 231,000 road casualties during the year, a fall of 7%.

The number of deaths among car users declined to 1,257, 12% less than in the previous year, and the number of people seriously injured when using a car fell by 7% to 10,707.

Regrettably, the number of children killed on UK roads rose 2% last year, to 124, although the DfT points out that 2007 saw the lowest child fatality figure on record, at 121.

There were 572 pedestrian deaths, 11% less than in 2007 and the all-pedestrian casualty figure fell to 28,481, down 6% on 2007.

The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 15% from 136 in 2007 to 115 in 2008 but the number seriously injured rose by 1% to 2,450.

There were 493 motorcycle user fatalities, 16% lower than a year earlier and the all-motorcycle casualty figure for last year fell to 21,549, down 8% on 2007.