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Reporting local life since 1854
Saturday, July 7, 2012
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Magazine
07.07.12
SHOCK RISE IN ROAD DEATHS
Increase in fatal and serious accidents as safety budgets are cut
BY ALEX CAMPBELL
alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
DEATHS and serious injuries caused by accidents on the city’s roads are increasing as budgets for policing and road safety are slashed. The number of people killed or severely injured in accidents on Stoke-on-Trent’s roads soared from 45 in 2010 to 71 last year, according to new Government figures. A total of 11 people died on the city’s roads in 2011, a major increase from two a year earlier. The 57 per cent rise was the third biggest increase in the country. Department for Transport data also reveals the number of deaths on Staffordshire’s
roads increased from 31 to 38 in 2011. The total number of serious accidents fell marginally from 213 to 202. Serious accidents and fatalities have fallen consistently in light of massive investment over the past 20 years. A total of 91 people were killed on Staffordshire’s roads in 1994. But fears have been raised that casualties are now increasing again as budgets are squeezed. Councils have cut funding for Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP), a joint organisation with police which oversees safety schemes. Lindsay Rogers-Coates’ daughter Courtney Holdcroft died just over a year ago when she was hit by a bus. The 35-year-old, from Blurton, said: “It is shocking to see these figures going up. More
money needs to be spent on road safety. Every school should have a crossing outside it.” Staffordshire County Council cut its contribution to the SSRP from £1.3 million a year to £368,000. Stoke-on-Trent City Council reduced its contribution from £335,000 to just £98,000 in 2011 and it will fall to £60,000 this year. The Government’s figures include all roads in local authority areas, including motorways and trunk roads which are the responsibility of the Highways Agency. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said the force is ‘deter mined’ to reduce road casualties. County councillor Mike Maryon, cabinet member for highways, pictured, said: “Staffordshire includes busy stretches of the M6 and M54. “There has also been a rise in the
number of accidents involving people aged 65 or over and we are now working to target this group.” City councillor Ruth Rosenau, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transportation, said: “We continue to monitor road usage very carefully and look into ways to improve road safety, where there is evidence to suggest this is needed and there are funds to do so.” A total of 242 people were killed or seriously injured on the roads in Cheshire East in 2011, down from 245 in 2010, including 12 deaths in each of the last two years. Nationally, deaths and serious injuries from road accidents increased for the first since 1994, up from 24,510 to 25,023.
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