The number of people killed in road crashes in Essex has risen after a two-year drop.
The year-on-year reduction had been encouraging, but with 48 people killed on the county's roads in 2012, road policing officers are keen to hammer home four key safety issues which are often behind the reason for fatal road crashes.
Road Policing Chief Inspector Rachel Nolan said: "The figures are disappointing and we can only hope our road safety messages hit home in 2013. These fatal crashes are needless."
Figures show that the 48 people killed in 2012 died in 46 collisions on the county's roads. During 2011, 41 people were killed in 38 fatal crashes.
Chief Insp Nolan added: "The four main contributing factors being road crashes, whether they result in death or not, are failure to wear a seat belt, mobile telephone abuse, drink-driving or speeding. All road users must be aware of this. If all of these factors were cut out and motoring laws adhered to then people would not be injured or killed."
In 2012, 3,600 people were injured in collisions with 670 of those being classed as serious. The comparative 2011 figure stood at 4,000 people injured of which 745 casualties were classed as serious.
Chief Insp Nolan concluded: "We will continue to rigorously enforce offences relating to the four key road safety factors throughout the next 12 months."