ROAD traffic collisions caused more than 400 injuries - including nine fatalities - on Barnsley’s roads last year, new figures have revealed.
Barnsley’s number of fatal collisions has fallen since the year prior, according to the Department for Transport (DfT) statistics - but it has trebled since 2015 when there were just three.
The majority of the 444 casualties - 329, or 74.3 per cent - were deemed as causing ‘slight’ injuries, a 17.7 per cent drop since the previous year and more than 50 per cent down on the yearly average from 2010 to 2014.
But fatal injuries on Barnsley’s road network account for almost a third of all South Yorkshire’s 30 deaths in 2020.
There were 114 motorists killed or seriously injured (KSI) in the borough, which is down by 25.5 per cent on 2019’s figures and the lowest of South Yorkshire’s four local authority areas.
In total, casualties in Barnsley have dropped by 19.9 per cent in 12 months and 41.5 per cent since the 2010 to 2014 average.
The majority involved car drivers - 278 recorded incidents - with 64 involving pedestrians, 41 two-wheeled vehicles, 34 pedal cycles, and goods vehicles accounting for 14.
Public service vehicles were involved in nine collisions.
Most casualties involved 25 to 59-year-olds, with the 230 incidents more than double the next-highest category, 17 to 24-year-olds, which accounted for 87 incidents.
When focusing on KSI incidents, only those involving powered two-wheeled vehicles have increased, with 21 incidents a 23.5 per cent rise on 2019’s figures.
Joanne Wehrle, manager of South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (SYSRP), said: “For every death on our roads, there is a family suffering the unbearable loss of a loved one and we cannot underestimate the impact this loss will have on them for the rest of their lives.
“Our thoughts go out to those families and as a partnership, we will continue to do as much work as possible to prevent further loss on South Yorkshire’s roads.”
Bosses saw a sharp drop in casualties in the second quarter of the year, from March to May, which they say shows the impact of lockdown on road use.
Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, added: “Over the last 12 months I have had many conversations with representatives of town and parish councils.
“These conversations have been dominated by concerns around road safety and speeding.
“As more people have been spending time in the homes and villages they have noticed vehicles speeding and potentially posing a danger.
“I will be supporting the SYSRP by ensuring that road safety issues are highlighted with the aim of continuing to reduce serious and fatal road traffic accidents.”
