Sharp drop in road deaths

Causeway Coast and Glens district has had the largest fall in road deaths in Northern Ireland, according to latest Police Recorded Injury Road Traffic Collisions and Casualties annual report.
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Figures showed that three people were killed on the district’s roads in 2017/18 compared to ten the previous year.

The report revealed that the number casualties seriously injured also fell from 75 in 2016/2017 to 60 in 2017/18. There were 628 slightly injured in 2016/17 compared to 593 in 2017/18.

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The overall total of casualties or deaths also fell from 713 to 656 over the same period.

The police report indicated that during 2017-18 the total number of road traffic collisions in Northern Ireland decreased by 1.9% from 6,162 to 6,046.

The overall number of casualties as a result of road traffic collisions fell, from 9,557 to 9,051 (-5.3%) and the number of fatalities as a result of road traffic collisions decreased from 65 to 61 (-6.2%).

There were 87 fewer people seriously injured in road traffic collisions (750 compared with 837) – a decrease of 10.4% and the number of people slightly injured reduced by 4.8%, from 8,655 to 8,240.

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Commenting on the figures, Inspector Rosie Leech said, “Credit for this reduction must go in part to those road users who adhere to the rules of the road; to our partners who work so hard to educate road users and those who construct our roads to safe standards, and the significant contribution of our emergency service colleagues, for their life-saving skills when called to attend the most serious collisions.

“We must all re-double our efforts to keep ourselves and others safe on Northern Ireland’s roads by always wearing our seatbelts, ignoring our mobile phones when we should be paying attention to our surroundings, adhering to the speed limits and never, ever drinking or taking drugs before driving.”