Staffordshire roads dramatically safer

Road safety experts in Staffordshire have revealed the number of deaths on the county's roads has dropped dramatically by 30 per cent over the last year.

Staffordshire County Council's road safety unit has unveiled the latest figures, which saw the number of people killed in the area fall from 68 in 2007 to 48 in 2008, which made it the third safest county for children across the UK road network.

The road safety team have been working to reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on the county's roads and claim the latest figures show their efforts are paying off.

Cabinet member for road safety Councillor Carol Dean said the results were a real success story for the people of Staffordshire.

She said: "The dedication and commitment of the road safety team really is reflected in these excellent results.

"Thanks to their hard work, lives have been saved and tragedies have been avoided.

"The county council has launched a number of high profile and powerful campaigns to warn people about the dangers of not playing it safe on the roads and its efforts have clearly had a big impact.

"But despite the success of these initiatives there is no room for complacency.

"We want to have a happy and healthy 2009 and perhaps next year's figures will be even better."

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick announced earlier this month that the county's road safety team scooped a massive £854,000 to help cut motorcycle casualties.

Staffordshire's slice of funding made up almost a quarter of the total £3.6 million that is being ploughed into boosting road safety across Britain. It was the biggest grant awarded.

The cash injection will be dedicated to reducing the number of motorcyclists involved in accidents on the county's roads.