Road deaths in the UK at lowest ever figure

Road deaths in the UK at lowest ever figure

In official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), we see that the number of deaths in the UK from road accidents or on roads in 2012 was at the lowest level ever seen.

During 2012, there were 195,723 casualties on roads in total in the UK. This amount represents all reported injuries, no matter how small, and also deaths. On it's own, this figure was 4% less than in 2011. But when we break down the figures further, we see where further drops have occurred.

The figure for deaths on UK roads in 2012 was 1,754. This was down by 8% over the amount in 2011. The number of serious injuries was down by 0.4%, and the number of serious incidents involving children on the roads dropped by 6%.

With the abundance of freak weather we saw in 2012, and the many downpours that plagued the nation and caused one of the wettest years on record, many may be wondering why the number of deaths was so low. With our roads being battered by the elements and in a bad state of repair around the country, it would be thought that accidents and such would be up. However, it has been suggested by the Department for Transport (DfT) that a lower level of cyclists, motorcyclists and foot pedestrians may have been seen during bad weather, and thus were less likely to be involved in accidents.

Many charities involved with road safety praised the reduced figures, but commented that much still needs to be achieved in order to reduce that figure further.

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