Oxfordshire confirmed to be bucking regional trend on road safety
Newly confirmed government statistics suggest that Oxfordshire is seeing significant improvements in road safety, with serious and fatal collisions falling sharply while the wider Thames Valley area has seen increases.
The Department for Transport has confirmed personal injury collision and casualty statistics for Great Britain. The trends are very encouraging for Oxfordshire.
Analysis of the data indicates that people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on Oxfordshire’s roads fell by around 18 per cent compared with the previous year. Across the Thames Valley area as a whole, KSIs appear to have increased by approximately 20 per cent over the same period.
The KSI measure is generally regarded as the most robust indicator within the provisional dataset because serious and fatal collisions are more consistently reported and recorded than lower-level incidents.
In February 2022, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet approved funding to support the roll-out of 20mph schemes in communities across the county at no cost to town and parish councils. Since then, more than 275 communities in urban and rural areas have requested and implemented 20mph measures.
Councillor Tim Bearder, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “This is extremely encouraging. Oxfordshire is bucking the wider Thames Valley trend, with serious and fatal casualties falling significantly at a time when neighbouring areas are seeing increases.
“This shows the approach we have taken in Oxfordshire is working. We have made a conscious decision as a county to take speed seriously because lower speeds save lives, reduce the severity of injuries, and make our communities safer and healthier places to live.
“Our ambition is for Oxfordshire to become known as the county that takes road safety seriously. Whether someone is walking to school, cycling to work, catching a bus, or driving through one of our towns and villages, everyone deserves to get home safely.
“The growth in support for 20mph schemes across the county shows that communities understand the benefits. These measures are not about stopping people getting around; they are about creating streets that feel safer, calmer and more welcoming for everyone.”
Councillor Gareth Epps, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “"These figures show real progress and the positive impact of our Vision Zero programme. Day by day, week by week, year on year, more people in Oxfordshire are getting home without harm from road collisions. The patterns are good across all indicators.
"There is more to do, and we continue to need more enforcement of the law. To achieve Vision Zero requires more year-on-year work. That's why we are working to tackle issues on particular A and B roads, working with our town and parish councils, and will be putting forward more proposals through the year."