Powys ‘worst for motorbike crashes’

A roads and casualties report has been released by the Welsh Government that shows nationwide there was a 9.6 per cent fall in fatal crashes on Welsh roads.

Of the 595 crashes that occurred during 2017, 65 of them happened in Powys and 50 of them happening in Cardiff.

The lowest numbers of motorcycle accidents were recorded in Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and the Isle of Anglesey. The report highlighted that overall there has been an improving standard of safety for pedestrians and cyclists, alongside an overall reduction in road traffic accidents nationwide.

Youngsters

But other figures showed youngsters are disproportionally likely to be casualties in road accidents, making up 11 per cent of the population but 22 per cent of all casualties.

Deputy minister for economy and transport Lee Waters said: “As our highways become busier, we have to be aware that simply by the law of averages there will be more opportunities for accidents.

“When we published our Road Safety Framework in 2013 we set ourselves challenging targets to improve safety for road users.

“As these statistics show we are making progress to reduce the number of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads, with the greatest reductions seen in the number of young people involved.

Progress

“However, they also highlight a disproportionate risk to pedestrians and cyclists. While we have made progress, we need to do more to make our roads safer for vulnerable users so that walking and cycling are normalised.”

He added: “We continue to support our partners to deliver the targets and actions set out in the Road Safety Framework and we will be announcing shortly which local authority schemes we will be supporting with £4 million of road safety capital grant funding and £1.9 million of road safety revenue funding in 2019/20.

“Our Safe Routes to Schools funding, which will provide £5 million for 2019/20, alongside the Active Travel grants, supports schemes that help to deliver increased levels of active travel among children travelling to school and in the wider community.”