Hampshire Constab-ulary has seen the biggest decrease in the number of people being killed in road crashes than any other force in the country. New figures released last week by the Department of Transport have confirmed that the number of fatal crashes in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have dropped by 43 per cent between 2003 and 2004, more than anywhere else in England. The dramatic fall has placed Hampshire well within the government's 2010 targets for road casualty reduction, which requires a 40 per cent reduction in people killed or seriously injured on the roads. A spokesman for the roads policing unit (RPU) said the unit, along with its partner agencies, had worked hard to reduce the number of people killed in road crashes over the last year, introducing a number of initiatives aimed at cutting casualties. Its intelligence-led approach to policing alongside joint education and enforcement campaigns has played a major part in reducing road deaths, the spokesman said. Particular success has been seen in reducing motorcycle fatalities, which fell from 33 in 2003 to 10 in 2004, a reduction of almost 70 per cent. As part of a specific operation aimed at cutting motorcycle deaths, high-visibility police patrols were put in place on routes which had previously seen high numbers of motorcycle casualties, in a bid to encourage road users to take more care when using roads, and to remind people of the importance of keeping themselves and other road users safe. The RPU has also been heavily involved in joint operations with other forces across the South East which focussed on reducing the number of people killed in motorcycle crashes on roads across the region. A dedicated "impaired driver unit" has also been created by the Roads Policing Unit after officers identified a nationwide increase in the number of drug-drive incidents. This specialised unit, which aims to help train officers to detect people who have taken drugs before getting behind the wheel of a car, is the first of its kind in the country. In its first six months the unit took 79 drug- drivers off roads in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – accounting for almost 1 in 3 drivers that were found to be impaired through drug use. A dedicated strategic casualty reduction partnership has also been formed with local authorities and other emergency services to provide a more unified approach to highlighting and tackling problem areas. Superintendent Mark Bradford, head of the RPU and the strategic casualty reduction partnership, said: "To see over a 40 per cent reduction in fatalities in 2004 is an astounding success and shows that our approach to reducing the number of people killed in crashes across the two counties is working. "We would hope to see a similar success this year, and we have been heavily involved in partnership and educative campaign work in an attempt to cut road casualties even further. "Too much carnage and devastation is caused by road fatalities, which impacts on everybody involved. We would urge all road users to take more care when driving and to act more responsibly when they're behind the wheel." The total number of people killed or seriously injured on roads across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight also fell considerably in 2004. Last year there were 988 people killed or seriously injured, compared to 1178 in 2003. This amounts to a 17 per cent reduction. Similarly, the total number of people injured in collisions across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight fell by almost eight per cent over the same period.
