NEWLY released statistics show there were 971 injury collisions on Somerset’s roads in 2018 – the lowest number ever reported in the county.

The number of people killed or seriously injured remained at 154, the same as in 2017 – although the number of road deaths did increase by 18 per cent to 26. This is the highest number since 2014.

Injury collision data is collected by Avon and Somerset Police and analysed by Somerset County Council’s Road Safety Team. The Road Casualty Review is published each year to highlight trends and help shape strategies to improve road safety.

Cllr John Woodman, the council’s cabinet member for Highways, said: “It is good news that we have seen fewer collisions in 2018 but the fact that more people died is a significant concern.

“We all have a responsibility to make sure we’re taking road safety seriously by making the right decisions every time we travel.

“As a council we will continue to prioritise road safety and work closely with our partners and communities to promote safe travel and deliver our road safety strategy. We are also keen to involve local businesses through our sponsorship programme.”

The council aims to prevent collisions in a number of ways – from engineering work, targeted training of road users and requesting support from the police. The council works closely with a number of other partners to promote safe road use.

In 2018 Somerset Road Safety provided training or advice to more than 28,000 members of the public. This included meeting 5,130 people at public events, training 1,710 motorcyclists, reaching 910 senior drivers through Route 60+ workshops, and teaching more than 10,000 school children at education programmes.