CRASHES on rural A-roads are responsible for Oxfordshire's ‘significantly high’ rate of serious casualties compared to the rest of the country.

New expert analysis published by Oxfordshire County Council has revealed that the proportion of major crashes in the county continues to exceed national averages, despite a fall in the actual number of collisions.

The report, which reflects on the latest statistics from 2017, states: “The downward trend in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads is encouraging, but the rate in Oxfordshire still remains significantly higher than in England.

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“When compared to its statistical neighbours Oxfordshire’s performance continues to be relatively poor.

“England and the South East have almost consistently had significantly lower rates of people killed or seriously injured on the roads than the Oxfordshire average.”

In 2017 a total of 1,705 crashes were reported in this county – hundreds more than in neighbouring Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire – of which 259 resulted in serious casualties and 22 in death.

Of the fatal crashes, according to Department for Transport data, 19 occurred on rural A-roads.

Chris Dyson, a spokesman for the county council, said Oxfordshire’s higher rate of serious crashes was due to having more rural roads than most counties.

He added: “Rural roads are made up of long stretches, where drivers and riders can get up speed, punctuated with tight bends.

“Driving too fast for the road environment and weather conditions is the most common reason for loss of control.

“Once drivers lose control they often leave the road, overturn after hitting a verge or hit trees, all of which increase the severity of injury to occupants.”

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The council’s new report states that in 2017, England's rate of people killed or seriously injured on the roads per 100,000 of the population was 40.8, while Oxfordshire's was 48.9.

In the last period for which a district breakdown was included, a three year-period covering 2013-15, England's rate was 38.5 and Cherwell's almost doubled this at 66.9, with South Oxfordshire recording 56.3, Vale of White Horse 48.5, West Oxfordshire 54.8 and Oxford city 39.2.

Mr Dyson said the council was 'committed' to reducing road incidents and had achieved this in recent years.

The county's crash total for 2017 – 1,705 – is significantly lower than 2,064 the previous year and 3,439 in 2000.

Mr Dyson said the drop was mostly due to improvement of driver training standards, safety of vehicles and changes to the law.

However, he also admitted the decline was now starting to level out both locally and nationally.

He stressed: “With 95 per cent of road casualties coming from human error, we’ve [now] got to work on the more challenging bit: changing road users’ behaviour.”

As reported in the Oxford Mail in October, 488 of the 2017 crashes were blamed on the driver or rider failing to look properly, and 235 because the driver or rider was 'careless, reckless or in a hurry'.

A spokesperson for road safety charity Brake said: “Rural roads pose a particular danger and the cause is often speed-related.

“Most rural roads in Britain have a 60mph limit - such roads are often unsuitable for high speeds as they are narrow, with blind bends, and no pavements or cycle paths.

“It is crucial that drivers stay well under the speed limit, particularly around bends, brows and other hazards, and take extra care whenever visibility or conditions are poor.”

The charity is campaigning for the government to improve rural road safety by introducing a 50mph national default speed limit instead of the current 60mph.

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Just last week a woman had to be cut out of her car by firefighter after it flipped on a rural road near Cholsey.

At the time, Slade Fire Station manager Paul Webster said: "Oxfordshire is a beautiful place to live and we are fortunate to be surrounded by open countryside much of the time when driving.

"Many of us feel safe when we are on a rural road but it is often a deadly mix of long straight runs, where we can pick up speed, punctuated by sharp bends."

Mr Dyson said the council’s role was not to ‘apportion blame’ but to educate road users and manage infrastructure.

The council’s Fire and Rescue Service has a dedicated team working with other emergency services to educate people of road risks and run safety campaigns.

Its infrastructure team also monitors the road network to identity hotspots that might need speed changes or traffic calming measures.