Wirral is worst area in Britain for road deaths and serious injuries

Oct 8 2008 by Carrie Catterall, Hoylake and West Kirby News

WIRRAL has the worst record of deaths and serious injury due to road traffic accidents than any other metropolitan area in the country.

This has led Merseyside Police to implement the road safety campaign to crack down on speeding motorists.

Officers set up road checks last Wednesday throughout Wirral and prosecuted 45 motorists in just one day.

Shocking figures have revealed that one person is killed or seriously injured every other day in Wirral due to road traffic accidents.

More than 900 people were killed or seriously injured on this peninsula over the past five years and 130 children were injured on the roads in this area in 2007 alone.

Wirral Area Commander Chief Superintendent Jon Ward said: “The numbers are coming down but this year still hasn’t been a great year.

“Since January we have prosecuted 7,000 people for speeding, not wearing seatbelts, drink driving and driving with a mobile phone.

“We don’t know how much more we need to do to get the message through.

“I’ve told my officers not to exercise discretion as the majority of accidents are not caused by boy racers but by the nice, normal members of the public who get their judgement wrong.”

Speeding contributes to 75% of all accidents and two-thirds of crashes which cause injury or death happen in speed limits of 40mph or less.

Wirral has the worst record for this because of a combination of factors.

These include a large number of young drivers and large numbers of older people driving well into their eighties.

Drivers passing through Wirral also contribute to the problem.

The local authority invests £1m into road safety annually and has set up a speed watch volunteer group.

If you wish to volunteer, contact Sergeant Kate Roberts on 606 5448 or email kate.roberts@merseyside.police.uk