Since the late 1960s, when almost 8,000 people were killed annually on Britain’s roads, the number of casualties has fallen dramatically. Given that over the same period, the number of cars rose from fewer than 8m to around 33m, there is no question that road safety policies – as well as huge improvements in medicine – have, over the long term, reduced the risk of being killed in a crash. The figure for last year was 1,695, which is 3% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Several recent incidents, however, are a reminder of the dangers. These include the deaths of two eight‑year-old girls, after a Land Rover crashed through a fence at their school in south London, and four deaths, including those of two children, in Birmingham within a month. The driver in the Wimbledon crash was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. The Birmingham deaths led to protests by a campaign group, Better Streets for Birmingham, which wants the council to take stronger action against an “epidemic of bad driving”.
