34 people were seriously injured and two people killed in road traffic collisions in the Maldon district in 2021, Essex Police has said.

The figure has increased for the first time since 2018, when 55 serious injuries or fatalities from collisions were recorded in the district.

30 people were seriously injured or killed on the district's roads in both 2019 and 2020.

Speaking to Maldon District Council's crime and disorder committee last night (Thursday, 10 March) after revealing the figures, Essex Police said residents are likely to see a greater rollout of 20mph speed limits in urban areas because of the greater priority placed on pedestrians and cyclists in the new highway code.

Adam Pipe, head of roads policing at Essex Police, told members that councils must start thinking about how they plan for the possibility of accidents on developments, new and existing roads and speed enforcement.

Mr Pipe, who lives in Maldon, said: "Most offences and most harm that comes to the district is very much through the use of a car - whether it be burglary, even violence.

"It's how Class A is brought into the county and into these districts as well, so roads policing is very much about disruptive criminality but also about making our roads safer."

790 people were killed or seriously injured on Essex roads in 2021, with an additional 15 people killed since January this year.

Around one in three road deaths in the county involve at least one person with cocaine or cannabis in their system, according to Mr Pipe.

He told councillors the force is aiming to crackdown on drug driving over the coming year.

Essex County Council is also reviewing its speed management strategy and route hierarchy, which could involve lowering speed limits.

It is considering placing several roads in Maldon - including sections of Maldon High Street, Market Hill and Fullbridge - under a permanent 20mph speed limit.

Mr Pipe said speed is the second highest cause of road traffic collisions in Essex, and the highest for 16 to 25-year-olds.

He also pointed to Essex Police's commitment to Vision Zero, which aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the county's roads to zero by 2040.

"It's very ambitious," he said.

"However, when I started 20-odd years ago, we were recording 130, 140 people killed every year and around 1300, 1400 people seriously injured - so we've already come a long way."

But Councillor Vanessa Bell, mayor of Burnham, said: "Vision Zero as such just excludes motorcycles completely because we're never going to have a zero fatality with bikes."

Mr Pipe said the target is an "aspiration", but added: "We've come a long way."

He said: "We need to keep looking at where we've come from and where we want to get to."

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