Deaths on London’s roads fell to the lowest level on record in 2018 – but campaigners claim the headline figures mask a dangerous reality.

Last year, 111 people lost their lives on the streets of the capital. But though it’s the lowest figure recorded, there were only 25 fewer deaths than when the Mayor took office in 2016 – and the figure has fluctuated in that period.

TfL is not on target to reduce deaths on London’s roads this year, with 69 deaths so far in 2019, a board meeting of the transport body heard on Wednesday.

This came in the midst of TfL’s Vision Zero week, designed to draw attention to the Mayor’s target of no deaths or serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041.

But while deaths fell last year, the number of serious injuries increased five percent to almost 4,000.

Green assembly member Caroline Russell said the impact of serious collisions should not be underestimated.

She said: “Serious injuries are life-changing. We’ve seen people who have lost limbs and will struggle to walk again, let alone the mental trauma on the victim and their families of being involved in a serious collision.”

Ms Russell said the Mayor should roll out 20mph zones on Transport for London roads across London – not just in the city centre, as currently planned.

She said Sadiq Khan should also increase law enforcement for traffic offences to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe.

Those walking and riding bikes in the city are particularly at risk, making up 80 percent of all deaths in 2018.

Though the number of pedestrian deaths fell from 73 to 56, that still made up half of all deaths last year. Twelve people died while cycling last year, and 770 more were seriously injured.

Deaths and serious injuries involving buses also reached their lowest recorded level, with 239 people killed or seriously injured last year.

But this meant that buses were responsible for a disproportionate 14 per cent of pedestrian deaths and 8 per cent of cycling deaths – while making up less than 2 per cent of traffic in the city.

Tom Kearney, a bus safety campaigner – who survived a serious collision in 2009 – said: “Any single UK private sector contractor with that kind of safety performance record would be shut down and its chair, board members and senior management sat in front of a judge. Where’s the public outcry over TfL’s manifestly-lethal surface transport operation?”

Stuart Reid, director of Vision Zero at TfL, said: “It is not acceptable for even one person to die or to be seriously injured on our roads and we are working tirelessly with our partners to reach our Vision Zero target.”