Marginal fall in UK road deaths
- Road deaths fall - but only by 1%
- DfT describes fall as progress
- 3201 people died on UK roads in 2005
Deaths on UK roads fell by just 1%, or 20 fatalities, in 2005.
New figures from the Department for Transport today show 3201 people lost their lives on UK roads in 2005 compared with 3221 in 2004.
The DfT says the figures are progress towards its 2010 goal of reducing deaths and serious injuries by 40%, or by 50% in the case of children, compared with averages taken between 1994 and 1998.
It says the number of people killed or seriously injured in 2005 is 33% lower than these averages, or 49% in the case of children, although these impressive results rely on large drops in serious injuries rather than significant headway in cutting deaths.
Overall, road deaths in 2005 UK were just 11% lower than the 1994-1998 average. Research from Oxford University suggests little headway is being made, pointing to hospital admission figures for road traffic accidents that have remained relatively unchanged over the last decade.
Head of road safety for the AA Motoring Trust Andrew Howard said: 'The decline in serious injuries continues to be more marked than the fall in fatalities.
'The number of driver deaths (excluding passengers, cyclists and pedestrians) rose by four last year.'
The number of cyclists killed also rose by 10% to 148 fatalities, the highest death toll since 1999.
Head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Kevin Clinton, said: 'We are deeply disturbed that more cyclists have died and hope that the extra funding announced this week for cycle training and cycle routes to schools will help to stem this trend.'
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