UK government statistics for 2008 show that there have been the fewest deaths as a result of road accidents since records began in 1926.

There were 2,538 deaths resulting form road accidents in 2008, which is a drop of 14% on the 2007 figure.

The Department for Transports (DfT) figures show that road accident casualties reported to the police for 2008 were 28,567 people that were either fatally or seriously injured in accidents, which is 7% less than in the previous year.

Also down 7% on 2007 was the total casualty numbers of slight injuries through to fatalities at 231,000.

Cycle accidents rose 1% on the previous year, but fatalities at 115 were down 15%, while motorcycle accidents killed 493, down 16% on 2007.

Pedestrian accidents resulting in fatalities were down 11% on 2007 at 572, but alarmingly three more children were killed than in 2007's record low at 124, which was described by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) as "unacceptable".

The overall improvement on the UK's roads, which sees the government meet its target of a 40% drop on the mid-1990s average, comes despite the European Road Assessment Programme (Euro-RAP) rating less than half the A-roads as safe, with 58% being rated neutral or poor for safety.