According to new Government statistics, there has been a rise in the number of people killed on roads in Great Britain. Figures from the Department for Transport show that 1,792 people were killed in collisions last year, up four per cent since 2015 and the highest annual total since 2011.

Commenting on the report, Jason Wakeford, Director of Campaigns for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “Today’s figures graphically illustrate the daily carnage taking place on roads across Britain. On average, five people continue to lose their lives each and every day - a deeply worrying figure which has not improved for some six years.”

Additionally, a total of 24,101 people were seriously injured last year - a rise of nine per cent (from 22,144 in 2015). Worryingly, the number of children killed is also up by 28 per cent from 2015, with 69 under-15s dying in 2016. Of all child road casualties (15,976), 38 per cent were pedestrians, and nearly a quarter (22 per cent) were killed or injured during the afternoon school run, between the hours of 3-5pm.

IAM RoadSmart has expressed its disappointment and suggests drivers must take their share of the blame. They highlight that although cars are getting safer and there has been a step change in new road investment, careless human behaviour and increasing traffic levels are cancelling this out.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “Road safety in the UK seems to be bumping along the floor with yet another year without improvement in key fatal and serious injury statistics. With six years without progress it is clear that we have an increasingly complex picture of good news such as safer cars and investment in new roads, being cancelled out by more traffic and a hard core of human behaviour issues that are the most difficult to tackle.”

The figures also reveal there has been no reduction in deaths of people on foot, bicycles and motorbikes since 2012.