IMPROVEMENTS
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Things have improved. Compulsory seat belts, drink-drive crackdowns, traffic-calming measures and safer vehicles have been responsible for the gradual reduction in the annual death toll recently. The number of people killed on British roads in 2009 – the last available figures – reached a record low. According to government statistics, 2,222 people were killed, 12% down on 2008 and the lowest annual total since records began in 1926. The highest recorded post-war annual total was nearly 8,000 in 1966, which is approaching one death every hour. While this level of carnage is behind us, and the recent numbers are a welcome improvement, we’re still running at an average of more than six deaths on the roads every day of the year. Being aware of the dangers is most of the battle. After all, you only get one life.