Call for action as road deaths reach 10-year high

"Urgent action" is needed on speed limits after road deaths in Essex reached a 10-year high, the county council said.

Some 60 people lost their lives in crashes in 2025 - the highest number since 2016, when 64 died. The head of roads policing previously described last year's toll as "relentless".

Essex County Council said speed was a factor in nearly half of cases as it unveiled a plan to introduce recommended speed limits, based on how streets are used.

Its "safer speeds strategy" would "help save lives and transform towns and villages from places which can feel dangerous and intimidating into safer, greener and healthier local communities," said Mark Platt, Cabinet Member for Highways.

The Conservative-led authority has asked residents to give feedback on the document drafted with the Safer Essex Roads Partnership (Serp), which includes other councils and emergency services.

The strategy was designed to be flexible, with speed limits decided on a case-by-case basis and based on demand from communities.

It centred on 20mph speed limits on "people-focused" streets and reducing speed limits on routes to schools, and aimed to help achieve Serp's aspiration that nobody should be killed or seriously injured on the county's roads by 2040.

"The tragic impacts of serious road traffic collisions go beyond those who have died or suffered serious injuries, affecting families, friends, colleagues and our wider communities," said Lee Scott, a Conservative councillor, chairman of Serp's governance board.

"We must take urgent action to achieve our 'vision zero' aspiration and the new safer speeds strategy is the single most important tool in helping us to do that."

Serp previously said the worst day in its history was in February 2025, when six young people died in crashes within 14 hours.

Adam Pipe, head of roads policing at Essex Police, said the strategy provided a clear approach to reducing harm and protecting the most vulnerable road users.

Speaking to the BBC in September, he said the amount of road deaths - which at that point stood at 48 - had been "relentless".

"It has been one of the most exceptionally challenging years I can remember for a very long time," he added.

The public consultation will run for six weeks, until 26 April.

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