Road Deaths at Record Low, But Safety Still Needs Improving

The Department for Transport (DfT) has recently announced that the number of people killed in road accidents in Britain in 2008 is the lowest since records began. A total of 2,538 people died on the roads last year - which is a drop of 14 per cent from the previous year's total, which was the previous record low (2946 deaths).

The number of pedestrian deaths fell below 600 for the first time to 572, while there were also decreases in the numbers of cyclists, motorcycle users, and children.

The Government announced a new road safety strategy in 2000 in which it aims to:

• reduce casualties by 2010, including a 40-per-cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads;
• 50-per-cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) say that the 2008 figures represent a great achievement, but the aim to make Britain number one in the world for road safety by 2020 - as stated in the Government's proposed road safety strategy published in April this year – will be a struggle. Currently the country is sixth in the world for road safety.

The statistics do not include a breakdown of fatalities involving at-work drivers, however the DfT has previously estimated that every week, 200 road deaths and serious injuries involve someone at work. With approximately three million company cars on the roads, roughly one in three will be involved in an accident each year. Road accidents which are work-related account for between 800 and 1000 deaths a year, making them the biggest cause of work-related accidental death, the Department has said.

Read the DfT's summary of statistics.