Roads are essential to our everyday lives, and to our economic prosperity. We all use the roads in some way, by driving, riding, walking or travelling as a passenger, and we depend on them to obtain goods and services. Unfortunately, this comes at a price, which includes people being killed and injured. However, road deaths and injuries are not inevitable. The last few decades have demonstrated how effectively a comprehensive road safety strategy can reduce the number of people killed or injured on the road, despite increasing traffic levels. Reported road deaths have reduced from about 5,500 a year in the mid-1980s to fewer than 2,000 a year now. Over the same period, road casualties have decreased from 240,000 (including 75,000 serious injuries) to just over 200,000 (including 23,000 serious injuries). Despite these improvements, more than 35 people still die, and almost 450 are seriously injured, on our roads every week. There are also signs that the long term reductions in road deaths may have stopped. These figures are for road casualties reported to the police, and so do not include tens of thousands of people who are injured in unreported crashes. Although virtually all fatal road crashes are reported to the police, a considerable proportion of non-fatal casualties are not reported, even when those involved require medical or hospital treatment. The real number of road casualties in Great Britain every year is estimated to be about 730,000 (but possibly as high as 880,000), including an estimated 80,000 seriously injured people. The challenge of reducing these preventable deaths and injuries has become even greater in recent years with the need to significantly reduce public spending. Local authorities in particular have faced substantial budget and spending restrictions, which affect their ability to deliver the vast range of essential public services for which they are responsible. While road safety must accept its share of these restrictions, cutting road safety services too far will mean more people being killed or injured. Apart from the human cost, this does not make financial sense because road accidents cost billions of pounds and so preventing them saves billions. Reported road accidents, including damage-only ones, cost around £15 billion a year. If unreported injury accidents are included, the cost could increase to about £50 billion. It has also been estimated that congestion, 25% of which is caused by road collisions, costs the country about £22 billion a year. Despite these challenges, local authorities can continue to deliver effective road safety services that help to keep their people alive and healthy by ensuring that their road safety services are: * Evidence-informed, * Co-ordinated with other public services; * Designed and delivered in partnership; and * Evaluated to ensure effectiveness. This Guide shows how you can help to achieve this in your role as a local Councillor. (Author/publisher)
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