Bradford road casualties 30 per cent higher than pre pandemic

Provisional figures from the Department for Transport suggest there were 1,457 road casualties in Bradford in 2021 – a rise from 924 the year before, and more than the 1,117 in 2019.

More people were killed on the district's roads last year – 12 people died, while eight lost their lives in 2020.

Meanwhile, 313 serious injuries were recorded – an increase from the year before, when 215 people were badly hurt.

It should be noted there were unusually few road traffic collisions in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on travel.

Shipley MP Phillip Davies (Conservative) blasted the standard of driving in Bradford and called for more to be done to tackle it.

“These figures are truly awful," said Mr Davies.

Phillip Davies has called for tougher punishments (Image: Newsquest)

"The standard of driving in Bradford is utterly shameful and it is essential that the police and the courts do more to clamp down on the dangerous driving people see in Bradford day in and day out.”

From today, new legislation will allow judges to hand down life sentences to dangerous drivers who kill.

Bradford South MP Judith Cummins (Labour) welcomed this, adding: “Each one of these statistics is a tragedy of potentially life-altering or life-ending injury.

"I am proud to have campaigned for changes to the law that will come into force this week, which means that there will be much tougher sentences for those who cause death by dangerous driving.

Judith Cummins is pleased laws around death by dangerous driving are changing today (Image: Google)

"I will continue to campaign on issues of road safety, whether it’s tougher sentences for dangerous drivers or changing the law on quad bikes.”

Speaking on the increase in fatalities on Bradford’s roads, Imran Hussain, MP for Bradford East, added: “These figures are of course deeply alarming, with a horrific tragedy and unimaginable heartbreak for someone’s family and friends behind each and every number, and they sadly show that there is still much more that needs to be done to keep our roads and those who use them safe.

Imran Hussain MP also wants to see more investment into policing to catch dangerous drivers

“Since becoming an MP, I’ve been campaigning for Bradford Council to install better traffic calming measures on a number of roads that are all too often used as racetracks.

“This is a problem that stretches across much of Bradford and isn’t isolated to a handful of streets.”

Fellow Labour MP Naz Shah (Bradford West) asked for more national support to address the dangerous driving problem in the city.

She said: "The figures released by the Department of Transport highlighting people seriously injured or killed from dangerous driving makes for difficult reading.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah also called for more action (Image: Google)

“To deny there is a particular problem of dangerous driving, or to pretend it is not an issue in Bradford, would be ignoring the facts and putting more people’s lives at risk.

“Bradford needs more national targeted support to help better protect our streets from dangerous driving.”