THE number of people killed and seriously injured on Sussex’s roads has increased by 12 per cent over the most recent calendar year.

Nine hundred and twenty-two people were killed or seriously injured in 2013 compared to 1,030 in 2014, according to figures obtained by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

The road safety charity is calling for better road safety measures among authorities, drivers and car manufacturers.

It found that the number of casualties had increased in more than half of all police force areas (28 out of 43).

Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said the figures should be a “wake-up call” for local road safety partnerships.

She said: “We want to make clear that a one year comparison cannot be taken as an overall trend of what might be happening in any particular area.

“However 2014 was not a good year for accidents and it should serve as a wake-up call to every road safety partnership that they are under scrutiny and road safety must remain a priority as public sector spending cuts continue.

“With official figures putting the cost to society of every fatality at over £1.7 million, investment in road safety is money well spent.”

Ms Sillars called on the government to reintroduce road safety targets, which she said were the “only clear way” of ensuring reductions in casualties.

She also called for incentives for companies and individual drivers to improve their driving skills.

IAM also believes stopping pedestrian deaths should be given more attention, and cars should be designed to protect people on the outside.

A spokesman added: “The IAM also calls for better pedestrian facilities to segregate traffic and vulnerable users where speeds are high, and campaigns to educate pedestrians themselves as they are most often at fault in crashes.”

The worst performing area was Derbyshire, which saw a 38 per cent increase, from 378 to 422.

Best performing was Suffolk, which saw a 17 per cent decrease, from 291 to 242.

Mark Trimmer, head of the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, was unavailable yesterday but has previously told The Argus that the number of people killed or seriously injured in East Sussex appeared to be going down this year.

He said riders of bikes and motorbikes had the biggest increase in deaths and injuries in 2014.