NORTH Yorkshire's official road accident statistics are at once shocking and unsurprising.

The figure which stands out is for fatalities. A rise of 12 per cent is deeply depressing, particularly in a county which already had a poor record on road casualties.

Regular Evening Press readers will accept the news with weary recognition rather than astonishment. It was our grim duty last year to report a relentless toll of death crashes.

The county council figures confirm Bilbrough Top's unhappy status as one of the region's worst accident blackspots. We can only repeat our belief that this dangerous gap in the middle of the fast, busy A64 dual carriageway is too dangerous to stay open. The Highway Authority should have closed it long ago, and not waited until the flyover is built.

However, we cannot blame poor road design for all these accidents. The simple fact is that many are caused by driver - or rider - error.

The high number of motorcyclists killed is a specific cause for concern. There are many possible contributory factors: so-called "born again bikers" unable to control modern, powerful machines; other road users paying insufficient attention to those on two-wheels. But riding at inappropriately high speed must be near the top of the list.

As the weather improves, so does the rush to the coast, often the catalyst for an increase in accidents.

So we hope the message contained in these figures hits home. North Yorkshire has no motorways. Most of its roads are unsuitable for high speed traffic. So bikers, and all road users, should slow down - and arrive alive.

Updated: 11:43 Monday, June 09, 2003