GWENT schemes to reduce the number of people dying on the roads are praised in a new publication dedicated to making Wales safer.

The Safe Roads, Safe Communi-ties consultation document, launched yesterday by transport minister Sue Essex, picks out three Gwent examples to highlight how road deaths can be reduced.

The document is seeking people's views on how to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads each year.

The development of a "home zone" in Magor - with lower speeds as a result of rethinking the street environment - and a road safety policy operated by Newport council to encourage safe driving of council vehicles are highlighted as examples of good practice. A Blaenau Gwent scheme which used Special Road Safety Grants to make routes to school safer is also praised.

Disturbingly, the document claims that the accident figures used in tackling road safety could be underestimating the real number of accidents, because police only record those in which there are casualties, or if there is an insurance claim.

Ms Essex said: "I consider road safety to be an absolute priority for the Assembly. It affects everyone in Wales and plays a fundamental role in our society - in health, education and environment.

"Last year there were 14,087 road traffic casualties in Wales. Of these, 169 were killed and 1,652 seriously injured. The long-term misery caused, both to those who are injured and to their families, is immeasurable."

The report notes: "It is estimated that between 80 and 95 per cent of crashes are damage-only and are not represented by official statistics.

"There is evidence to suggest that a significant number of crashes involving pedestrian and cyclists, even those involving an injury, go unreported.

"In one study in Oxford, 40 per cent of crashes (mainly in the "slight category") involving pedestrians and cyclists were not reported."

The document was officially launched at the Wales Road Safety Conference at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth yesterday.