LATEST figures from Somerset Road Safety show that 22 people were killed on the county’s roads in 2015.

That is 11 fatalities fewer than in 2014 and almost 25 per cent lower than the target set by Somerset County Council.

The council’s road safety team receives police reports following any injury accidents recorded by the police and carries out its own research to identify trends and look for ways to improve safety across Somerset’s 4,000 miles of roads.

In 2015, five of the deaths were on urban roads – 11 were on rural roads with the remaining six on trunk roads (the M5 or A303) which are also classed as rural.

Cllr David Fothergill, the county council Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “I’m pleased to see a drop in the number of road deaths across Somerset in 2015 – although clearly a single death is one too many.

“It’s important we do analyse statistics like this thoroughly so we can make sure we target our resources in the right areas.

“As you might expect for a predominately rural county, the majority of deaths were on country roads and we will be looking at ways to raise awareness of the specific dangers associated with these types of road, as well as carrying out road improvements where a need is identified.”

Further analysis of the 2015 statistics show that 73% of fatal collisions involved cars, 9% motorcycles, 9% pedal cycles, 5% vans and 5% mobility scooters.

Each accident resulted in a single fatality – 59% were drivers, 27% passengers and 14% were pedestrians.

In terms of ages, 41% of casualties were over the age of 59, 23% were between 40 and 59, 18% 25 to 39 and 18% in the 16 to 24 age group.