THE number of people killed or seriously injured on Haringey s roads in the past seven years has fallen by almost 63 per cent to a record low. The latest figures show that while 209 people from Haringey were killed or seriously injured in 2000, there were

THE number of people killed or seriously injured on Haringey's roads in the past seven years has fallen by almost 63 per cent to a record low.

The latest figures show that while 209 people from Haringey were killed or seriously injured in 2000, there were only 78 deaths or serious injuries on the borough's roads last year.

The number of slightly injured also fell from 1,284 in 2000 to 711 in 2007.

The news was welcomed by the council, which has worked with other agencies including the police to reduce the number of road deaths.

Road safety schemes include 20mph zones, traffic calming measures and road safety programmes.

The council's environment chief, Cllr Brian Haley, said: "We're working very hard in Haringey to reduce accidents. The latest figures show this has helped deaths and serious injuries on Haringey's roads fall to a record low."

And this week, the BBC presenter Nick Ross, president of the London Accident Prevention Council, praised a council worker for her attempts to reduce the disproportionately high number of injuries on the borough's roads among the black and Asian community.

Halema Uddin led a £17,000 year-long project aimed at raising road safety awareness among the Muslim community through workshops, leaflets and advice at the Wightman Mosque in Hornsey.

Mr Ross said: "Britain has an international reputation for road safety, halving our death toll since the 1980s and leading the world in innovation, but in a diverse and multicultural borough like Haringey it's easy for key groups to get missed out.

"Halema has been at the forefront of making sure that doesn't happen. She really deserved the award."

Ms Uddin was responding to a report published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which revealed that black children living in the borough were most at risk of being involved in road traffic accidents.

Statistics taken from road accidents between 1996-2006, show that of the annual pedestrian injury rates per 100,000 of children living in Haringey, 199 involved black children, 136 white children and 94 Asian children.

Dr Phil Edwards, a senior lecturer in statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, compiled the report for TfL with figures provided by the Metropolitan Police.

He said: "The casualty rates for black children living in Haringey are much higher than other boroughs in London. This is likely to be related to the amount of time these children are exposed to dangerous roads, or perhaps they walk more than other children in the borough."

But Chief Supt David Snelling, in charge of traffic policing at the Metropolitan Police, advised caution.

"One careless mistake or a moment of distraction can cost a life," he said. "Sadly my officers know too well the long-term grief and harm caused to families and friends who lose someone through a road accident.

"To know that loss could have been easily and entirely avoided makes that loss all the harder to bear.

"Drivers need to keep focused for their own and others safety, and always remember that now those who kill through their own carelessness face prison.