BackPedestrian casualties down
The Department of Transport today released the latest statistics on road casualties in Great Britain in 2009. The figures show a decline in the number of pedestrian deaths and a decline in the number of child pedestrians killed or seriously injured.
There were 500 pedestrian deaths, 13 per cent less than in 2008. Reported seriously injured casualties fell by 9 per cent to 5,545. The all pedestrian casualty figure fell to 26,887 in 2009, 6 per cent lower than 2008.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:
"We welcome today's announcement that the number of pedestrians killed and seriously injured on our roads has fallen by 13% since 2008 and we hope that the government continues to work towards reducing this number further. Although we are clearly making progress, no one should be satisfied when the equivalent of 7 primary schools full of children were seriously injured or killed on our roads last year.[1]
“We strongly believe that one action to take to cut this number is to reduce the speed limit where we live, work and play. For years we have had the evidence to show that reducing speed limits in built up areas to 20mph has a dramatic impacts on the numbers of pedestrians killed or seriously injured. We believe that action needs to be taken now so that it is made as easy as possible for local authorities to implement borough wide limits. Only that will cut the casualties on our roads and allow us to enjoy the benefits of living on streets which clearly put people first.”
You can read the other findings of the report here
[1] There were 1660 child pedestrians killed or seriously injured in Great Britain last year. Based on the average of 234 children per primary school, the number of primary schools full of children killed or seriously injured is 7.
Published on: 24/06/2010
