Currently reading: Road deaths hit new low

Government hits its own target on road casualties

Road deaths in the UK have reached a record low, government statistics have revealed.

In 2008 2538 people were killed on Britain's roads, which is the lowest figure since records began in 1926, and was 14 per cent down on 2007, the previous lowest figure.

There were just under 231,000 road casualties in Great Britain in 2008, seven per cent less than in 2007.

The highest recorded post-war annual total was almost 8000 in 1966.

The figures show that the government has hit its target of a 40 per cent drop in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads by 2010, compared with the mid-1990s average.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: "Every death on the roads is a terrible tragedy, but these figures show that every day last year one less person died on the roads than in 2007 and that Britain now jointly has the safest roads of any major nation in the world.

"While this news is encouraging, seven people are still dying on the roads every day and we will continue to do everything we can to prevent these tragedies."

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