Rise in people killed or seriously injured on roads in the North East
Brake, the road safety charity, has released stats for Road Safety Week
A road safety charity has revealed that road deaths and serious injuries in the North East has risen since last year.
Brake has released analysis for Road Safety Week which began yesterday (Sunday 19th November).
It shows that 997 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in the North East, a 7 percent increase on 2021 figures.
Regional breakdown
- Hartlepool saw the biggest increase in road casualties: the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in the borough rose from 35 in 2021 to 53 in 2022, an increase of 51 percent.
- Middlesbrough also saw a significant increase in the number of road casualties, rising by 34% between 2021 and 2022.
- Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Sunderland were the only local authority areas in the region to see numbers of road casualties decrease from 2021 to 2022.
The charity is calling on everyone to join a national conversation about speed, to raise awareness of the dangers of excessive and inappropriate speed, and challenge why so many people still think it is acceptable to drive faster than the speed limit.
Nick Leech is a cyclist from Eaglescliffe and is Chairperson of Stockton Wheelers cycling club. He said: "I always feel vulnerable. There's never a day I go out where I'm not aware of other road users and needing to be very careful cycling, even with all the safety gear on. There've been lots of times where it's got very close. Cars have come really close when overtaking or they've overtaken on a dangerous part of the road.
"We see lots of drivers who are impatient and they put us and themselves at risk. I cycle between 100 and 200 miles a week, depending on the time of the year, and I think you'll be shocked how many times we see examples where there are scary moments on the road.
"Pause for a second and just consider that there might be a cyclist coming down the road at 20 miles per hour and as you glance, you may just miss him in the A-pillar so have another quick look. We're very, very vulnerable. Even compared to motorcyclists we don't wear any protective gear so if we came off our bikes at 20 miles per hour, it's going to hurt and we're going to damage ourselves.
"Please give us some proper distance and the scariest moments are when people overtake us and they're very, very close to us as they go by. I personally really don't like that so give us distance.
"Motorists are not supposed to overtake or cross a solid white line. We cycle 15, 20 miles per hour and so on and motorists will still overtake us when there's a solid white line. The law says they can only overtake cyclists and cross a solid white line if we're doing less than 10 miles per hour."
UK statistics
The latest road casualty statistics show that, in 2022, 1,766 people died on UK roads (1,711 in Britain, 66 in Northern Ireland), a 10 percent increase on figures from the previous year. Brake’s analysis also found that in the same period, road deaths caused by drivers exceeding the speed limit rose by 20 percent.
Brake also carried out a public opinion survey, asking more than 2,000 drivers about their driving habits and attitudes to speed and speed limits. The survey found that 92 percent of drivers think that speed limits are essential for the safety of our roads.
Despite this, more than a third (34 percent) of those surveyed said they sometimes or often drive faster than the speed limit, and 40 percent think that driving just a little bit over the speed limit does not matter.
Two-fifths (39 percent) of drivers surveyed also agreed that the default speed limit on roads in built-up areas should be lowered from 30mph to 20mph, supporting changes that are taking place across the UK to make communities safer through the introduction of lower speed limits.
Road Safety Week activities
This year, more than 3,400 schools, communities, organisations and emergency services, together representing more than 17 million people, have signed up to take part in Road Safety Week by organising local activities, sharing important road safety messages and posing the question: If five people die on UK roads every day, why do we still think it is ok to speed?
Brake has provided free resources to everyone taking part in Road Safety Week, including campaigns toolkits, lesson plans and assemblies for school, as well as factsheets, films, posters and more for businesses, local communities and campaign groups.
Here are some examples of events that are taking place across the region and around the rest of the UK.
- Gateshead Millenium Bridge will be illuminated in yellow in for the Word Day of Remembrance for Road Victims.
- In South Yorkshire, Mayor Oliver Coppard and Active Travel Commissioner Ed Clancy will attend the Lifewise Centre in Rotherham to run road safety lessons with local schoolchildren. They will also be riding bicycles that will light up with road safety messages.
- In London, the BT Tower will display a message supporting the central theme of Road Safety Week, Let’s talk about speed!
- Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council will hold a road safety parade bringing together local high schools and primary schools to share important road safety messages. The parade will follow a pedestrianised route through the town centre, ending at Blackburn Town Hall where the Mayor of Blackburn will deliver a short speech.
"Road death is sudden. It's traumatic."
Ross Moorlock, interim CEO at Brake, said: “Road death is sudden. It's traumatic. It sends shockwaves across families, schools, workplaces and communities. This year, we have already supported more than 1500 people affected by road crashes through our National Road Victim Service.
“Today, five people will be killed on our roads. And tomorrow, another five won’t make it home to their families. And so on, and so on, until we all say 'Enough!’ and start taking responsibility for each other’s safety on the road.
“The speed we choose to drive at can mean the difference between life and death. Our speed dictates whether we can stop in time to avoid a crash, and the force of impact if we can't stop. This Road Safety Week, whoever you are, and however you travel, I urge you to join the conversation and talk about speed. Please talk to as many people as you can to find out why, when five people die on our roads every day, so many of us still choose to drive too fast.”