A ROAD safety target in West Yorkshire has been met - seven years ahead of schedule.

The target was to cut the number of fatal and serious accidents involving cyclists by 40% by 2010.

But that has already been exceeded in West Yorkshire.

The county's average yearly tally of fatal and serious accidents involving cyclists was 106 between 1994 and 1998.

But that figure has now dropped to 62 - a fall of just over 41%.

Other ambitious plans under the West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan to cut the number of serious accidents on the roads are also on target.

The figures have been released by the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, which draws in the county's five major councils.

The target of reducing the number of fatal and serious accidents among pedestrians by 40% and cutting the number of road accident deaths and serious injuries by the same amount are on course to be reached by 2010.

Another target that may well be achieved is to halve the number of children killed or badly hurt on West Yorkshire's roads.