County sees road deaths increase

About 3,500 people die on Britain's roads every year

A big increase in the number of people who have died on Cornish roads has been condemned as appalling.

Fifty-three people were killed in 2002, up from 40 in 2001.

Police and road safety officers describe the figures as disturbing but have said there is no obvious explanation for the increase.

The government says it wants the number of collisions in which people are hurt to be halved over 10 years.

We can't put the increase in deaths down to one particular reason

Cornwall County Council

In Britain, around 3,500 people are killed and 40,000 are seriously injured on Britain's roads every year.

Two people died in Cornwall in January.

Young people are being specifically targeted in an attempt to reduce the number of people killed.

Pc Andy Daniel of Devon and Cornwall Police explained: "They make up one quarter of the casualties in road traffic collisions within the county on an annual basis.

"Bear in mind that we're talking about an age group that makes up less than 10% of our driving population."

Cornwall County Council's Road Safety Unit said: "We can't put the increase in deaths down to one particular reason. If we could, we would target that area to deal with it.

"So we have to target all areas with our educational programmes, as we always have done."

Reducing deaths

Council road safety officer Carol Wright said people do forget it is not just car drivers who are killed in road crashes.

She said: "Certainly on our roads in the last year, a number of pedestrians have been killed. Likewise, a number of motorcyclists.

Transport minister David Jamieson said: "Our target is to reduce deaths and serious injuries across the country by 40% overall and 50% for children.

"We must continue our efforts to improve safety on our roads."