MORE people are dying on Dorset's roads after a tragic year in 2019.

Some 27 people were killed in crashes around the county last year. A further two died of medical episodes on the roads.

In January 2019, police hailed the previous year, 2018, as the 'safest year on record for road users'. In total, 16 people were killed in 2018.

But by the time officers from the force had released the news on January 21 2019, three people had already died.

The first was a 78-year-old Southampton woman killed in Horton Road, Ashley Heath on Saturday, January 5. Three days later, a cyclist in his 50s died after suffering a medical episode near Bournemouth Airport.

And on Friday, January 8, 71-year-old Jackie Bradnick died after she was involved in a collision with a car in Poole Road, Branksome at 11.10pm.

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Her family later paid tribute to "an amazing mum; nan; great grandma; sister and friend".

The youngest to die in 2019 was Khan May, 21, who was killed when his green Triumph motorbike was involved in a crash with a Ford Transit van in Holdenhurst Road on January 22.

In total, six people died in January alone.

Earlier this week, drink-driver Mark Green, 44 and of Dumpdon View, Monkton, Honiton, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison after killing his friend Neil Parsons in a crash at Tiley Knap in Middlemarsh, Sherborne.

Mr Parsons was fatally injured when Green's Peugeot Boxter van ploughed into a tree on January 26 2019.

Green is one of several arrested or charged after fatal crashes in Dorset.

William George Martin, of Princess Road in Poole, was behind the wheel of a blue Ford Focus when he was involved in a collision with 82-year-old Joy Norman in Somerford Road on the afternoon of March 18.

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He later admitted causing her death by careless driving and was sentenced to a community order.

Wayne McKay is awaiting sentence after admitting killing dad-of-four Andrew Mann by driving carelessly on the A31 in East Dorset on April 30.

Mr Mann died when his green Kawasaki motorcycle was involved in a collision with McKay's Citroen Relay dropside lorry outside the Henbury Stud Farm in Sturminster Marshall.

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Wayne McKay, inset left, has admitted causing the death of Andrew Mann, inset right, by driving carelessly

A court has already heard McKay was trying to shepherd a dog into a driveway when he turned into Mr Mann's path.

A 25-year-old man from Nuneaton in Warwickshire was arrested on suspicion of driving offences after Colin Lazenbury, 54, was fatally injured in a crash near Westbourne on Sunday, May 26.

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Mr Lazenbury died of his injuries in July after his Yamaha motorbike was involved in a crash with a Volkswagen Sharan and a Peugeot 307 in West Cliff Road.

One of last year's crashes involved more than one fatality.

On October 16, Lorraine Molyneaux, 62, was killed in a collision involving a Triumph motorbike in Ringwood Road outside the Turbary Retail Park.

The motorcyclist, James Lewis, aged 50 and from Poole, was taken by air ambulance to Southampton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died on October 22.

In November, 69-year-old Flora Walsh, who lived in Verwood, died when a tree fell on her grey Ford B-Max on the Verwood Road between the Alderholt turning and the A31.

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A tribute released by her family after her death reads: "We are in shock and utterly heartbroken."

Inspector Joe Pardey, of Dorset Police’s Roads Policing team, said: “Any road death or serious injury is avoidable and unnecessary.

“The majority of collisions are caused by driver or rider error, so it is imperative that when using a vehicle on the road that road users pay attention 100 per cent of the time, drive to the conditions and give themselves time to react.

“Any serious collision has a huge effect on all of those involved, especially families and friends who lose loved ones. There is also the wider impact on those who witness these often traumatic incidents, as well as the impact on emergency service personnel who attend scenes day after day.

“As the police, we want to influence all road users through education and enforcement. We have a number of channels through which to do this, including road policing patrol officers, the No Excuse team, speed detection vans, Community Speed Watch schemes and, most recently, dashcam prosecutions via Op Snap.

“Lastly, the Serious Collision Investigation Team exists to bring those drivers or riders who kill and seriously injure others to justice by conducting thorough and detailed investigations into our serious and fatal collisions.

“Our aim, along with partners, is to achieve Vision Zero – where no one dies on our road network. We want to encourage road users themselves to help us towards achieving this goal.”