The number of collisions on North Yorkshire’s roads in 2017 which resulted in a personal injury was 1,428, a fall of nine per cent compared with the previous year.
Figures also show the total number of casualties last year was down 12 per cent on 2016, continuing a downward trend since 2011.
But a report to North Yorkshire County Council’s Transport, Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which meets on 12 July, also reveals that the number of people killed in road collisions increased from 28 in 2016 to 41 in 2017. The report says that 2016 had the lowest number of fatalities since 1990 and the 2017 figure was in line with the five-year average.
Although child and pedestrian casualties increased, there was a reduction in the number of cyclist and motorcyclist casualties in 2017.
County Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for highways, said:
There has been a downward trend in road casualties since 2011 and 2016 was a year that had the lowest number of fatalities since 1990. I am very disappointed that the number of persons killed on North Yorkshire’s roads has risen in 2017 and did not remain at the lower level of 2016
The 2017 figures are broadly in line with the five-year average, but we had some notable successes last year, particularly the reduction in casualties through our continued engagement with the motorcycle and cycling communities.
The county council works in primary and secondary schools promoting road safety for every key stage and delivers the Drive Alive and Learn and Live programme to high schools and colleges plus the Enhance Pass Plus scheme for new and young drivers.
It delivers the national Junior Road Safety Officer programme to primary schools and a high school programme promoting safer journeys at a time when children are given more independence.
There are intensive engagement programmes with cyclists and motorcyclists and road safety initiatives include an assessment scheme for older drivers and promoting messages on a range of issues such as tyre safety, fatigue, country roads, eyesight, distractions, pedestrian safety, winter driving and highway and driving law.
In addition, 30 local safety schemes have been implemented at personal injury collision sites. The council’s fatal collision procedure makes sure that every crash location is visited and a report completed by the traffic engineers, working closely with North Yorkshire Police, which considers what could be introduced to prevent future incidents.
The council monitors personal injury collision locations to identify cluster sites and analyses collision data on routes to identify spots for further investigation and potential improvement schemes.
