We must find out why the Valley is worst

And equally worrying is the fact that in Rossendale - through which runs much of Lancashire's most dangerous road, the notorious Grane Road moorland "rat run" between two motorways - people are at even greater risk on the roads.

These disclosures were conveyed by the region's public health director, Dr Stephen Morton, to concerned councillors in the Valley.

While they give grim confirmation for this newspaper's campaign for action to cut the carnage on the Grane, it remains a troubling puzzle why, overall, East Lancashire should be such a much more dangerous place for road users.

This is particularly so when it has been subject to some of the most intensive traffic-calming schemes in the country.

But, perhaps, Dr Morton points to the need for the safety focus to now shift away from towns to our rural roads.

For he highlights the fact that accidents and injuries on them are more severe than on others and that the more dangerous roads are those connecting with trunk roads - a pattern for which the lethal Grane route is virtually a model. Yet these factors are not unique to East Lancashire.

Urgent research is evidently needed to find out why our roads are extra dangerous and, as Dr Morton demands, a safety strategy must be devised to cut the number of deaths.

For with 40 people being killed each year in the region - amounting to 1,150 years of lost life and immeasurable grief and tragedy for the victims' families - this is a toll that has to be targeted for urgent action.

A new report today highlights the billions of pounds that road accidents cost to the economy annually and how expenditure on accident prevention turns out to be cost-effective in reducing this burden.

It is obvious, therefore, that the financial incentives demand action while the human costs make it imperative.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.