Number of people killed or injured on UK roads set to rise

Highways England describes figures as "very concerning"

Number of people killed or injured on UK roads set to rise
Image: Bigstock.

Findings show that the largest increase in road deaths occurred on the motorways, rising by eight per cent since 2017 to reach 107 deaths in 2018.

Deaths on urban roads rose by three per cent to reach 646 last year, but rural road deaths fell by four per cent to 1,030.

Highways England’s head of road safety, Richard Leonard, said: “The numbers are very concerning and while over the last 15 years safety has improved and our roads are among the safest in the world, each incident is a tragedy for the individuals and the families involved.

“Improving road safety needs safe roads, safe vehicles and safe drivers. Safety is our top priority and we’re working hard to improve England’s motorway and A roads and we need your help.

Related: Roadside recovery training for smart motorways launched by Highways England

“We all have a role to play to make sure we all get home, safe and well and we’re asking all drivers to make their own safety, and that of other people, the most important thing to think about when they travel.

“Remember to check your vehicle, obey all signs and think about other drivers.”

Issues arose in 2016, when many police forces switched to a new form of casualty reporting, which is considered to be more accurate but raised the number of serious incidents, making comparisons with previous years tricky.

The stats indicate that there were 1,784 fatalities on UK roads in 2018: one per cent fewer than in 2017, but nevertheless worse than the figures seen more than five years ago, with 1,754 fatalities recorded in 2012.

Stalled progress

Road safety progress had been significant over the last several decades, but has stalled since 2012 with year on year fluctuations explained by ‘one-off causes or natural variation’.

The number of serious injuries recorded since 2016 has shown a steady if slight increase from 24,101 in that year to 24,831 in 2017, to 25,511.

The overall number of casualties in 2018 was 160,597, which is six per cent lower than 2017 and the lowest since modern records began in 1979.

However, Highways advises caution as non-fatal casualties are known to be under-reported to the police and the percentage drop from the previous year is likely to reflect the new reporting system’s impact.

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