FEWER people are being killed or seriously injured in road accidents in Oxfordshire, figures show.

Department for Transport data shows 22 people were killed and 259 people seriously injured on Oxfordshire’s roads in 2017.

The figures include the deaths of one cyclists and two pedestrians.

And of those seriously injured, 35 were pedestrians, 60 were cyclists and 55 were riding motorbikes.

RAC road safety spokesman, Pete Williams, said: “The numbers killed on the roads remaining stubbornly high.

“It also remains the case that casualties among some vulnerable road user groups, specifically pedestrians and motorcyclists, are rising, which is a concern.”

The overall figure for people killed and seriously injured has decreased from 352, the yearly average from 2010 to 2014, to 281 last year.

The DfT uses the yearly average to measure change over time.

The number of road casualties in Oxfordshire, which includes minor injuries, has decreased by 22 per cent over that time, to 1,704 incidents.

The data includes any injury sustained with a vehicle on the road. The injuries do not have to involve cars.

It could be a bike colliding with a pedestrian, or someone falling over while cycling.

When patients are taken to hospital it is classified as a serious injury.

Three young children and their parent were among those injured in a serious crash on Abingdon Road in Standlake in April 2017. Despite serious injuries, Matthew Stevenson, and daughters Hannah and Rose, and son Josh all made a full recovery after the ‘horrific’ head-on crash.

The road was closed whilst while firefighters, ambulance crews and nearby residents rallied round.

Broadly, the number of injuries on the road has been decreasing across England as car technology improves. However, while there are fewer accidents, there are more severe injuries.

Mr Williams continued: “Speed limit compliance also remains a real problem, with more than half of vehicles recorded speeding on 30mph roads and nearly one in five drivers travelling at 30mph or more in a 20mph zone.

“With traffic levels rising, and people’s dependency on the car also increasing, a shift in focus is needed at both national and local levels to begin to tackle the problem.

“On a day-to-day basis, it is every driver’s responsibility to ensure they are driving safely by not breaking speed limits and reducing distractions in their vehicles so their attention remains firmly on the road.”

Oxfordshire’s casualty rate is greater than the South East’s average, but lower than the England casualty rate.

The road safety charity Brake called on the Government to lower speed limits.