 The target set was that road casualties should drop by one-third by the year 2000 in comparison to the average numbers for the years 1981 to 1985.The target was exceeded, with the number of fatalities dropping by 39% and the number of serious injuries dropping by 45% over that period.In 1999, when Great Britain had the safest roads in Europe apart from Sweden, the government set a new national casualty reduction target, to be met by the year 2010.