Increase in casualties on Derry's roads last year

The number of casualties on County Derry's roads as a result of traffic collisions increased between 2020 and 2021, recent data has shown.

Statistics released by the PSNI showed a slight increase in the number of people killed or injured in collisions within each of the county's three policing districts.

Categorised into 'killed', 'seriously injured' and 'slightly injured', the data showed an overall increase in Northern Ireland of just over 23% between 2020 and 2021.

However, the figures also showed a reduction in deaths recorded as a result of road traffic collisions across the North, with the total dropping from 56 to 50.

Locally, the number of casualties in the Causeway Coast and Glens area increased by 26% from 429 to 541 in 2021.

477 people were slightly injured as a result of collisions, with a further 55 suffering serious injury. Nine people died on the area's roads in 2021, the highest figure of all eleven policing districts.

There were two fatalities in Derry City and Strabane in the same year, the joint-lowest figure in NI, while there were 537 slight injuries and 59 serious injuries.

The total number of casualties within the district rose by 9% from 551 in 2020 to 598 in 2021.

Four people were killed as a result of traffic collisions in Mid Ulster during 2021, a reduction of two from the previous year's figures.

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437 slight injuries were recorded, alongside 78 serious injuries, leaving them with a total of 519 casualties, an increase of 20%.

Overall, Mid and East Antrim recorded the largest rise (+28%) in casualties from 2020 to 2021, with the only decrease recorded in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.

The district recorded one less casualty than the previous year, and three less deaths (4) than its 2020 figure of seven.