New data from the Department for Transport has revealed that 292 people were injured on the Island’s roads last year, 103 of them seriously or fatally.
Last year there were 4 fatal, 99 serious and 189 slight injuries recorded compared to 8 fatal, 96 serious and 223 slight in 2022. The figures reveal a 10% year-on-year drop in the total number of casualties, from 327 to 292.
These new figures reveal that almost 6 people a week are being injured on the Island’s roads, 2 of them seriously or fatally.
Of those seriously or fatally injured on the Isle of Wight roads, 40 were car occupants, 30 motorcyclists, 20 pedestrians, 11 cyclists and 2 ‘other vehicle’ occupants.
70% of those injured – be it fatally, seriously or slightly – were aged 25+, despite a common misconception that young drivers are responsible for crashes. Of the 292 injured, 27% were aged 60+.
Diving into the data of the 4 fatal incidents in 2023, 2 involved motorcyclists, 1 involved a car occupant and 1 involved a pedestrian. 3 of the 4 casualties were male and 3 of the 4 were aged 60+, the other being aged between 16-24.
James Broun, Research Manager at RoSPA, has commented on the Government’s latest Reported Road Collisions data for 2023, saying:
“While we’re pleased to see road fatalities fall by 5% on 2022, sadly 1,624 people still died on the roads last year – an unacceptably high figure following years of stagnation in fatality reduction. We are particularly concerned that when we include the number of people seriously injured on the roads, the overall figure (29,711) has shown virtually no improvement over the last year.
Article continues below this advertisement “It’s important to put this into context. Although it’s good to see that road fatalities have decreased by 9% over the past decade, this is a marked slowdown compared to the 47% reduction achieved in the previous ten years. Taking a longer view, it’s clear that without a comprehensive road safety strategy in place, momentum has been lost.
“We urge the Government to take decisive action and commit to a robust, evidence-based plan to prevent further unnecessary deaths and serious injuries on our roads.”
Just goes to show, the speed of traffic is far slower now. proving a point that in most cases it’s poor driving responsible. Where drivers do not drive to the speed and conditions of the roads.. As Australia have proved , Slow drivers cause more danger on the roads.