Devon and Cornwall road safety bucking national trend

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Vision Zero South West road safety partnership becoming fully operational – and I’m really happy to say that we are starting to see some very positive results from this work.

You may have seen in the news last week that Devon and Cornwall saw some of the lowest KSI (killed or seriously injured) figures ever recorded in the region.

Provisional figures* from the Department for Transport (DfT) show that in 2025, 49 people were killed and 495 seriously injured in collisions in Devon and Cornwall. This is the lowest number since modern recording systems were introduced** and almost 20 per cent lower than the figure for 2024.

This isn’t just a one off; the numbers have been going down consistently every year for the past four years - since the Covid-19 pandemic.

What’s more, it seems Devon and Cornwall are bucking the national trend. The DfT reports that nationally there has been a four per cent increase in KSI casualties compared to 2024.

Let’s get one thing clear right away; this is not a cause for celebration. The fact that 544 people were killed or seriously injured on our roads in 2025 remains a huge problem and there is still a lot of work to do.

But what we have shown - through our collaborative projects, joined-up thinking and innovation – is that it is very much possible to influence these figures and, in doing so, prevent the trauma and tragedy that is caused by serious collisions.

Let’s also address the elephant in the room; we know a lot of people think Vision Zero South West is only interested in catching people who are speeding. This is simply not true.

Speed enforcement definitely plays a big part in KSI reduction, but there are so many more projects Vision Zero has been responsible for, including:

This anniversary also offers us the chance to look back and absorb the impact that some of our projects have had. In the past five years:

As you can see, a lot of big numbers – but we never lose sight of the important ones.

Every board meeting Vision Zero South West holds starts with a roll call of names of those who have died on our roads since the previous meeting – followed by a minutes’ silence in their memory.

This sobering act reminds every member of our partnership why this mission is so important.

These are real people killed in tragic and traumatic circumstances - loved ones and family members, parents and children, brothers, sisters and friends – and we will do everything in our power to protect them.

* Provisional figures remain subject to further validation. These can change as collision investigations progress and conditions are updated.

** Injury Based Reporting Systems (IBRS) were introduced in 2015 in Devon & Cornwall. The DfT only reports figures from 2014 onwards. For more information visit: Guide to injury-based reporting and severity adjustments for road casualty statistics - GOV.UK