MUCH progress have been achieved in recent years in reducing road deaths and cutting the number of serious accidents.

Road safety education aimed at children, plus campaigns on drink driving and dangerous practices such as driving while using a mobile phone or speeding have all helped make roads safer.

The statistics can take a jump because of multiple-death accidents, but that doesn’t account for all of this year’s increase in fatalities.

With 19 deaths from 14 incidents, it means as well as the bin lorry tragedy there was an increase of another nine fatal accidents.

The number of road accidents overall increased considerably by around 50% ,which is a cause for concern.

We could hope it was a one-off statistical increase and the numbers will return to lower levels again next year, but that would be to ignore the warning.

We must all take responsibility – as pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and passengers – to promote safety on the roads.

All the agencies with an involvement need to ensure their efforts are redoubled to ensure these numbers reduce next year and continue to fall year-on-year in the future.

Accidents will happen but with everyone paying attention, obeying the law and the rules of the road, then injuries and deaths can be greatly reduced.