NEW road death figures show three people died in car accidents in the Sidmouth area in 2007.

NEW road death figures show three people died in car accidents in the Sidmouth area in 2007.However, accident investigators say East Devon is one of the safer areas to drive in.The three deaths were Jodie Gigg, on the B3174 on March 20; an elderly lady at Four Elms Hill near Newton Poppleford on March 28; and Harry Templeman on the A3052 near Branscombe in July.All three were either car drivers or passengers. The figures show no pedestrians, cyclists or any under-16s died on roads last year.Devon County Council has said it intends to learn from the provisional police figures. In total 49 people died across the county's roads in 42 incidents last year.This is an increase of 13 on the 2006 figure and is the highest since 2000.Tim Hipwell, Devon County Council collision investigator, said: "There are not as many high speed roads and it is known the higher the vehicle speed the higher the severity of the collision."He added the figures for the Sidmouth area were too small to see any noticeable trend.Sidmouth Sergeant Andy Turner said: "To my mind one is too many, due to the effects on friends and family."Unfortunately all too often it is bad driving on someone's part, not always the victim's."DCC use the figures to work with emergency services on preventative measures.