Concern over rise in road casualties and deaths

A "concerning" rise in the number of people who have been killed or seriously injured on roads in Keighley has been recorded, a council report has said.

Between 2022 and 2024, 47 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions on roads in the Keighley Central ward.

The area is the fifth worst in Bradford for collisions resulting in casualties, but unlike other wards in the top five, the situation in Keighley had worsened between 2022 and 2024, the report said.

Bradford Council plans to install more average speed cameras on the A629 as part of a range of measures to tackle the problem.

The figures will be discussed at a meeting of the council's Corporate Scrutiny Committee later, when members are given an update on the Vision Zero strategy - a plan to reduce the number of road deaths in the district to zero by 2040.

In 2022 there were 14 traffic incidents where someone was killed or seriously injured in Keighley Central.

Last year that figure had risen to 17, making it the only part of the district to see a rise in incidents in this period.

The council report said the area had experienced a concerning increase in collision and "reports of anti-social driving".

It added that a fatal crash involving a young rider on an electric motorcycle in August 2024 had also "heightened community anxiety".

Police and the council aim to tackle the issue with "targeted enforcement," including more average speed cameras on the A629.

If approved, the scheme, which would be funded through £500,000 from West Yorkshire Police's Safety Camera Partnership, could be live by mid-2026.

Overall, there were signs of an improvement in the number of collisions resulting in casualties across the district, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The most recent figures reveal in the past year there were 969 collisions in the area which led to injuries.

This is 6.4% down from the previous 12 months, although the number of people killed, 13, was the same as the previous year.

The City ward, which includes Bradford city centre, has been the worst for collisions resulting in injuries, with 26 in 2024, but the report states this is down from 31 in 2023 and 28 in 2022.

"The city centre experiences the highest concentration of pedestrian casualties, particularly around the Interchange, Broadway, and university campus," the report said.

Other areas among the worst for serious collisions include Manningham, Toller and Great Horton, but all reported falling numbers of incidents.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.