SPEEDING and careless driving are responsible for more than half of all serious injury and fatal collisions on Surrey’s roads, the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner has warned.
Lisa Townsend, who is this week marking charity Brake’s Road Safety Week, said most serious collisions happen in urban areas during mid-afternoon – as children leave school for the day.
Figures from Surrey RoadSafe, a partnership working to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads, reveal that more than three-quarters of all serious crashes take place in an urban setting.
Speeding is linked to 33 per cent of all crashes, with careless driving responsible for 24 per cent of crashes.
Speeding linked to a third of tragic crashes
The majority of all serious crashes – 50 per cent – take place within a 30mph speed limit. The most likely time for a collision is between 3pm and 5.59pm, with 22 per cent of all serious incidents taking place in the timeframe.
In total, 2,030 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions in Surrey between 2020 and 2022.
More than a quarter of casualties were drivers, 22 per cent were cyclists, and 19 per cent were on powered two-wheelers, including motorcycles and mopeds. More than one in 10 of the total casualties was a pedestrian.
Lisa, who leads on transport safety nationally for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said there is “no excuse good enough” for driving recklessly on the county’s roads.
‘Take driving seriously’
“These figures should give every single driver pause,” she said.
“It is absolutely horrifying that a majority of serious or fatal crashes in Surrey take place during daylight hours in our towns, and that speeding is behind a third of these collisions.
“I want to reiterate yet again that driving is a responsibility. It is the most dangerous activity most people will carry out as part of their day-to-day lives, and it should be treated with the seriousness that it deserves.
“Every serious or fatal crash will change the lives of a family, a friendship group and a community.
“The impact is impossible to quantify.
“People die through impatience”
“We are very lucky here in Surrey to have two fantastic teams dedicated to educating road users and enforcing driving laws – the Vanguard Road Safety Team and the Roads Policing Unit.
“But each driver bears the weight of driving responsibly and safely in order to keep themselves and others safe.
“Many crashes are completely avoidable, but people are dying on our roads through impatience and carelessness.
“Making our roads safe is a top priority in my Police and Crime Plan, and I am dedicated to this aim.”