Essex County Council data has shown that Essex is bucking the national trend, which has seen a 3% rise in the number of people killed on Britain's roads, whereas Essex has had a 22% reduction.

In 2011, there were 35 people killed on the county’s roads, compared to 2010 when there were 45. Overall killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties for Essex also fell 5% in 2011 (630) compared to 2010 (662), set against a 2% increase nationally. Substantial reductions were also seen in Young Driver KSI Casualties* with a 26% reduction from 131 in 2010 to 97 in 2011. 

However, Essex County Council is determined that, working with its partners in the Essex Casualty Reduction Board (ECRB), it will continue to focus resources on targeting those groups more likely to be involved in accidents.

In 2012, Essex County Council, working with its partners in the Essex Casualty Reduction Board (ECRB) will be continuing the ‘no excuse’ campaign, which brings together covert and overt police enforcement and road safety education programmes to target routes and towns where crashes and casualties are known to occur. These events, known as “Surround-a-Town” (SAT) days, include police enforcement, road safety education, speed watch events at schools, community speed watch groups, pedestrian training, re-education for offenders and child car seat checks.

Successful engineering schemes have also contributed, such as the A127 average speed camera zones which evidenced a 63% reduction in KSI collisions in the 3 year period since installation with little detrimental effects to journey times.

Councillor Derrick Louis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation at Essex County Council and Chairman of the Essex Casualty Reduction Board, said: “The reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads is testament to the level of activity and support from all of the ECRB partners and their dedication to reducing collisions in Essex.

“We will be continuing to target key areas and organise events such as SAT days which provide us with the opportunity to engage with residents about the most common causes of accidents. Indeed, whilst some drivers continue to put themselves and others at risk we will continue to target them with enforcement and education activity to make our roads safer.”