The number of people killed and seriously injured on South Yorkshire roads fell to 585 last year - the lowest figure since records began in 1979.

Councillor Ian Auckland, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development and Transport at Sheffield City Council welcomed the news and said:

“It is important that we have met this record low in South Yorkshire, this shows how the partnership efforts are helping to reduce the number of people involved in collisions on the county’s roads.

“This figure makes us determined to do even more. We must continue to do everything that we can to make the roads as safe as possible and further reduce the number of people killed and injured. We can’t forget that 585 people were killed or seriously injured in the year and that this can have a long lasting impact on their families, relatives and friends. Work on reducing the casualty figures in South Yorkshire must continue apace.”

National research shows that the main causes of crashes are:

• Failure to look properly
• Failure to judge another persons path or speed
• Irresponsible driving, (careless, reckless or in a hurry),
• Speed, (either excessive speed or inappropriate speed for the road or conditions)
• Poor turn or manoeuvre

Andy Male, Chief Inspector for roads policing in South Yorkshire said:

“The numbers of fatal and life threatening collisions have improved, they need to improve more. South Yorkshire Police will continue to target drivers who speed, use mobile phones, don’t wear their seat belts, drive in a reckless / dangerous / anti social manner. We will also continue to offer advice to vulnerable groups, in particular young drivers and motorcyclists. We continually monitor and analyse crashes in the county and our patrol strategies are adjusted accordingly.

“The work of our partners within the South Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership is key to our continued success along with the co-operation of the counties road users.