Accident Data Reveals Real Tragedy of Regions Roads
17/12/2009
A leading road traffic accident lawyer has branded the latest road fatality statistics as an “utter disgrace” and claims that the number of deaths paints an alarming picture of the potential danger on Britain’s roads.
Figures published by the Department of Transport reveal that an alarming 32,298 people have died on Britain’s roads in the last ten years, with 2,538 people dying in road accidents during 2008 alone. The figures, collated between 1999 and 2008, also revealed that road crashes were the single biggest cause of death for people between the ages of five and thirty-five.
There were 105 deaths recorded in the North East and Cumbria by Police authorities, 29 in Cumbria, 18 in Cleveland, 20 in Durham and 38 in Northumbria. Fran Mayes, partner and serious injury expert at Irwin Mitchell in Newcastle regularly deals with clients who have seen their lives turned upside down due to a road accident and is only too familiar with the fatal threat of the region’s roads.
“This number of deaths on our roads is an utter disgrace,” she claimed. “While the numbers killed on Britain's roads each year is less than a decade ago, nobody should be congratulating themselves. Behind each and every one of the 2538 road deaths is a story of human suffering, a tragedy not only for the person killed, but for those they leave behind.
“One of the strange things with road deaths is that society seems to accept them. If there is a train crash or an air crash, it makes national news and people are rightly shocked. However, people should be equally shocked by the utter waste of life caused by road crashes,” she added.
“When looking at the statistics, it is noteworthy that there are three times as many males killed on our roads as females. It is equally stark that new drivers aged between 17 and 25 account for 643 (over a quarter) of the 2,538 killed on our roads.
“Of course, the number killed is just the tip of the iceberg. In the same year, nearly 250,000 people were injured on the roads.”
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