Wrexham Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths has welcomed a recent report which shows Welsh roads to be among the safest in the world.
The figures – ‘Roads Casualties in Wales, 2010’ –show the number of road accidents, injuries and deaths in Wales continuing to fall when compared to previous years, with the number of people either killed or injured at their lowest since 1968. The Report was commissioned by the Welsh Government drawing on data from Police records.
Key statistics include: road deaths down by 24 per cent year on year in 2010, serious injury figures were also down 9 per cent in 2010 as compared to the year before, and road accidents involving personal injury, and overall casualty figures were both down by 4% respectively from 2009 to 2010. Figures for Wrexham also fit with this pattern with casualties down by 6% from 2009 to 2010.
The Welsh Government has pumped over £30million since 2007 to enable local authorities to implement a wide range of road safety projects which have contributed to the downward trend in the figures.
Commenting on the report, Lesley said:
“Today Wales can boast some of the safest roads in the world; however this did not come about by chance. These figures are the result of years of investment in road safety by successive Labour-led Welsh Governments, and the hard work of all involved.
“The figures in this report should be welcomed by all across Wales, but also here in Wrexham. The report shows that road casualty figures by no less than 39 percent on 1998 levels – a significant and welcome achievement.”
“However one incident is too many and the Welsh Government will continue to work so that this record of success can be built upon.”
The full report can be found at: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/transport2011
