Road casualties on the rise across Portsmouth and Hampshire, new figures reveal

Road casualty numbers are on the rise in Portsmouth

The RAC Foundation said the increase in casualties across Britain is a reminder that more work needs to be done to improve road safety.

Figures from the Department of Transport show 529 casualties were reported on Portsmouth roads in 2022 – up from 486 the year before. Across Hampshire, excluding Portsmouth and Southampton, the figures were 2,901 up from 2,695.

But both totals were down slightly on those recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.

The data also shows more people were killed on Portsmouth's roads, with nine deaths last year. In 2021, five road deaths were reported. In Hampshire there were 37 deaths last year, up from 35 in 2021.

Across Great Britain, 1,711 people were killed on roads. It marked a 10 per cent jump from the 2021 but was down slightly from 1,752 in 2019.

Edmund King, director of the AA Charitable Trust, said: "Every death on our roads is a tragedy and it is worrying that after the pandemic, road deaths are rising.

"It is a preventable tragedy that a fifth of people who die in cars on our roads are not wearing a seatbelt. There needs to be concerted and targeted education to reach those drivers who choose to risk their lives for the sake of a two second action.

"It’s on all of us to eliminate deaths and casualties on our roads. As well as having more cops in cars to catch people in the act, road users need to take responsibility when heading out on the roads."

Overall, there were 135,480 casualties last year – up 6 per cent on 2021, but down 12 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

A DfT spokesman said: "We welcome the continued decrease in road casualties compared with pre-Covid levels, with our roads being some of the safest in the world.

"Nevertheless, we continue to work tirelessly to improve road safety through our world-renowned Think! Road safety campaigns and £47.5m safer roads fund, so local authorities can also work to keep road users safe."

Outside of coronavirus lockdowns there has been no significant improvement in road crash fatality figures since around 2010.