THE sixth successive fall in the annual number of road accident casualties in Wales has cut the number dying on Welsh roads to a new low.

Provisional figures for 2000 show 169 deaths - the lowest number since records began in 1938. The figure is down 12 per cent on 1999.

Serious injuries have also shown a drop - down two per cent to 1,650 - and minor injuries decreased by a similar proportion. In total, there were 14,087 casualties of road accidents in Wales in 2000.

Assembly transport minister Sue Essex welcomed the figures released this morning as "good news".

She said: "Although there are still far too many casualties to be satisfied these reductions are good news. In 1987 a target was set to reduce road accident casualties by one third of the 1981-85 average by the year 2000. In 2000 the total number of casualties was two per cent below this baseline but the good news is that the killed and seriously injured casualties are down by 53 per cent."

Ms Essex was particularly pleased with the statistics relating to children, where there has been a 60 per cent decrease in the number of children killed or seriously injured since 1981-85.

"Children are one of the most vulnerable members of our community and they should be able to have the freedom to use the roads for their social development and the exercise for their general health and fitness," she said.

The UK Government has set new casualty reduction targets for 2010. These include a 40 per cent reduction in people killed or seriously injured, and a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured, compared with the figures for the mid-nineties.

Ms Essex added: "I consider road safety to be one of my priorities. I will shortly be launching a consultation document 'Safe Roads, Safe Communities' which will invite all interested groups and individuals to provide views on both the current problems in Wales and the potential solutions. This will then form the basis of a Welsh Road Safety Programme which will help us achieve our goal of casualty reduction."