Deaths and casualties on Shropshire and Mid Wales roads on the rise

New figures show there were 158 more casualties on roads in the area during 2014, rising from 1,658 the previous year.

The statistics, released by the Department for Transport, revealed there had been an increase of five deaths on the area's roads from 29 in 2013, to 34 last year.

The news comes after 14-year-old Kira McGrail and her mother Diane McGrail, 53, from Market Drayton, died when the Seat Ibiza they were travelling in was involved in the crash on the A5 in Weston-under-Lizard on earlier this month.

A 46-year-old man from the Telford area was initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but was bailed following further police inquiries.

Vicki Bristow, of Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Safer Roads Partnership, said: "The figures show that some areas have seen slight increases but equally other areas, such as fatalities in Shropshire, have fallen.

"The safer roads partnership's education and enforcement activity is informed by collision and casualty data, but we analyse five year trends in order to gain a much fuller picture of the target groups that we need to be focusing on, rather than comparing year on year figures which can be affected by issues such as the weather and the economic climate.

"Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police has a very strong road safety and casualty reduction strategy.

"We have a dedicated road safety partnership that works together with other agencies locally to ensure that road safety is a focus, whether it be working on enforcement or education.

"Protecting people from harm is our priority and we continue to work together with our communities and partners to make our roads safer. "

The figures are broken down into area by local authority and show that in Shropshire last year, there were 15 deaths and a total of 835 casualties – a total that includes any reported casualty from slightly injured to seriously injured or killed.

The statistics showed the number of fatalities had dropped from 18 in 2013, while the number of casualties had increased by 2.70 per cent from the previous year at 813 casualties.

Earlier this year, 27-year-old motorcyclist Merrick Burns, who lived in the Shrewsbury area, died hours after a collision with a green Toyota and a white Citroen at the junction for Grinshill on the A49.

In Telford and Wrekin, a total of three deaths were recorded in 2014 – an increase of one on the previous year. The number of casualties in total increased by 17 per cent, from 341 in 2013 to a total of 399 last year.

Meanwhile in Powys, the number of deaths nearly doubled from nine in 2013 to 16 the following year. The total number of casualties rose by 15 per cent from 504 to 582.

All three local authority areas show an increase in the total number of casualties – the first the rise since 2010. Previously, there have been year-on-year drops in the total number of casualties.

Nationally, the number of reported road deaths in 2014 totalled 1,775, an increase of four per cent on the total in 2013. The 1,775 road deaths in 2014 is the third lowest annual total on record after 2012 and 2013. There were 45 per cent fewer fatalities in 2014 than a decade earlier in 2005.

Responding to the news, Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said: "As our economy improves, we can expect traffic levels to continue to increase, so we must do everything we can to make sure this does not lead to even more increases in road crashes and casualties.

"The reductions in road death and injury in recent years will not automatically be sustained, without a continued focus on road safety.

"We must remain focussed on making our roads safer for everyone, and especially for people travelling on foot and by two wheels.

"The number of pedestrian fatalities involving those over 60 has increased by 16 per cent, together with a 7 per cent increase in car occupants. With an aging population we must renew our efforts to reverse this phenomenon."