According to the latest government road safety data, there were 830 North East road traffic casualties in 2020 – an 11% decrease from the previous year, despite a regional reduction in car traffic vehicle miles of 21% due to the pandemic and resulting lockdowns.
The North East also recorded 63 road traffic fatalities and 677 serious injuries, whilst Wales was statistically the safest region, with 818 road traffic casualties recorded that year.
With Road Safety Week commencing from the 15-21 November, these statistics show that despite the best efforts of government and other road safety groups to reduce the number of casualties, there are still a large number of major incidents occurring, relative to the amount of traffic on the UK’s roads.
Jeanette Whyman, Serious Injury Lawyer from Wright Hassall commented: “Despite the significant decrease in traffic in 2020, we are still seeing a considerable number of serious injuries on our roads, often resulting in people needing compensation for their life-changing injuries.
“To give you a better understanding of how widespread road safety issues are in the UK, we have offered a regional breakdown of the latest government data, which details the situation on our roads and shows the need to seek expert legal advice if you are involved in any such incident.
“Although the latest figures show a decline in the number of road traffic casualties, this 11% reduction must be taken in context against an overall drop of 21% in car traffic vehicle miles.
“This shows major road traffic incidents are still a regular occurrence, which unfortunately means a lot of innocent victims will have their lives negatively impacted as a result. And ultimately, if it wasn’t your fault, then you shouldn’t be left to bear the emotional or financial consequences.”