Deaths and serious injuries on West Sussex roads on the rise

Provisional data for 2021 from the Department for Transport shows the number of deaths and serious injuries have risen by eight percent in the past decade, up from 435 in 2012 to 469.

The number peaked in 2019 with 573 deaths and serious injury collisions recorded.

The DfT figures also reveal that 27 people died in collisions in 2021.

That compares to 25 recorded deaths on the county’s roads in 2012, with the figures in the intervening years ranging from a low of 19 to a high of 30.

The overall number of casualties fell by 18 per cent from 2,396 in 2012 to 1,972 in 2021.

However, there is no obligation to report all personal injury crashes to police, so this may not represent the full range of casualties.

The provisional road casualty statistics for 2021 state that in total, 1,560 people lost their lives on British roads.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “As the lockdowns eased, we were hopeful that the reduction seen in the 2020 road casualties statistics could be maintained for longer, but sadly that wasn’t the case.

“Fatalities were up 7% while those suffering any form of injury increased by 11%. The one glimmer of hope is that the total number of casualties last year remains lower than pre-pandemic levels, so we need that to be the turning point in order to make our roads as safe as possible.

“While the number of people cycling increased over the past two years, despite an initial spike of pedal cycle fatalities in 2020 it has dropped by a fifth last year. We welcome this and hope the updated changes to the Highway Code create the pathway towards safer cycling.”

Commenting on e-scooters, Cousens continued: “We are still learning about the type of incidents e-scooters are involved in as well as the kinds of injuries they create. While the number of collisions increased significantly from 2020, initial reporting shows that e-scooter riders are more likely to hurt themselves rather than others.”