Hundreds killed or seriously injured on North Yorkshire’s roads last year, according to new figures

398 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in North Yorkshire, new figures show.

Road safety charity Brake has called on the Government to strengthen roads policing, following what it described as a decade of “appalling stagnation” in the number of fatalities on Britain’s roads.

In 2019, 398 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents in North Yorkshire, Department for Transport figures show.

This was a decrease of 9% on the year before, when there were 435.

Of last year’s total, 38 were fatalities – up from 32 the year before.

The figures represent all accidents that happened on a public road and involved at least one vehicle, horse rider or cyclist.

Across Britain, 29,588 people were killed or seriously injured last year – a slight decrease on the year before.

The DfT warns against comparing year-on-year figures however due to changes in 2016 to the way some forces record the severity of injuries.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at Brake, said: “For nearly a decade now, we have seen an appalling stagnation in the number of deaths on our roads and it’s high-time for the Government to take responsibility and act.

“We need to rid our roads of dangerous drink and drug driving, introduce safe speeds in our towns, cities and rural areas and reinvigorate roads policing, which has been decimated by funding cuts.”

Brake wants the Government to commit to a ‘Vision Zero’ target of no deaths or serious injuries on the roads.

In North Yorkshire, the total number of casualties, which includes non-serious injuries, fell from 2,755 to 1,464 between 2009 and 2019.

Across Britain, the number of casualties fell to 153,315.

A DfT spokesman said the figures were encouraging, adding: “We continue to work hard to improve road safety – delivering on more than 70 actions announced last year in the Road Safety Statement to tackle road safety issues for people, throughout their lifetime.

“Our award-winning THINK! Campaign is also continuing to tackle the attitudes and behaviours that can lead to road casualties.”