Surge in Road Deaths in 2011

Posted by the Personal Injury team on 8th November 2011

Nick Hind, associate solicitor in the personal injury department of Bennett Griffin comments:-

“Road safety has been brought into tragic focus with events on the M5 in Somerset this weekend.

But this awful accident aside, it was reported last week that, after year on year falls, deaths on British roads had risen by 7% in the first 6 months of 2011 and 940 people were killed in that period.

A number of commentators have linked the rise to cuts in road safety budgets.  If that is correct, with many cuts yet to bite and the prospect of even deeper cuts to come, we could be looking at many more avoidable deaths on British roads.

Yet at the same time, the government has ploughed on regardless with its plans to change the personal injury claims system so that the victims of accidents will have to pay a portion of their own solicitor’s costs out of their damages.  It is unfair and doesn’t add up.

The government would be better advised to prioritise road safety rather than punishing the innocent victims of accidents”