"Fatal four" behind many road accidents

Date: 6/1/2011

After 31 people lost their lives on Gloucestershire roads in 2010, experts are advising drivers to avoid the most common factors behind the majority of accidents.

This Is Gloucestershire reports that the "fatal four" causes for most collisions are speeding, getting behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, failing to wear a seatbelt or using a mobile phone.

However, Garry Handley, Chief of the county's road safety partnership, said that the most common factor in accidents continues to be driver error.

"The simplest way to reduce risk to the absolute minimum is for all drivers to keep to the rules of the road. Collisions happen when rules are bent or broken," he warned.

Fatalities on Gloucestershire roads increased by 12 last year when compared to the number recorded in 2009.

Elsewhere, last year Northamptonshire saw the lowest number of fatalities on its roads since records began.

Posted by Sarah Bailey