Speeding is not the main cause of death on Britain's roads, according to the first ever set of statistics released by the Department for Transport (DfT) to explain what causes road accidents.

For fatal accidents the most frequently reported contributory factor was loss of control, which was involved in 35 per cent of road deaths.

By comparisson, exceeding the speed limit or going too fast for the conditions were reported as a contributory factor in 26 per cent of all fatal accidents, and only 15 per cent of all accidents involving injury.

Failure to look properly was the most frequently reported contributory factor and was involved in 32 per cent of all injury accidents. Five of the six most frequently reported contributory factors were some kind of driver or rider error or reaction.

The Safe Speed organisation said that the speed-contributory statistics showed that the Government had been wrong to focus on cutting speed, and that the "entire road safety policy has been based on dodgy data".

Paul Smith, the Safe Speed founder, said: "Safe Speed has been pointing out for years that the concentration on speeding was a deadly mistake. The Department for Transport has been defending bad decisions and bad policy for years. Now it must stop. Speed cameras must be scrapped. Heads must roll."

The RAC Foundation agreed. The foundation’s executive director, Edmund King, added: "For a number of years we have been arguing that we need to know more about the causes of crashes so that they can be addressed.

"Today’s figures suggest that all drivers need to concentrate more on the road ahead rather than on their phones, passengers, music, food, drinks, navigation systems, or countryside clutter of signs."

He went on: "‘Failed to look’ was the most frequently reported contributory factor and involved 32 per cent of accidents. These figures suggest that we need to get drivers to take more responsibility for their actions.

"It is disappointing that the rate of casualty reduction seems to have stalled. New thinking is needed to improve driving standards, pedestrian education and poor road and junction design."

Overall the picture appeared positive, as deaths on Britain's roads fell in every category last year except for pedal cyclists.

In 2005 the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured rose by two per cent overall to 2,360, and the number of fatalities increased by 10 per cent, from 134 to 148.

These modest increases came against a backdrop of overall road deaths down 1 per cent, deaths of pedestrians down five per cent, and deaths involving drink-driving down three per cent to 560. The total number of people hurt in drink-drive accidents fell by an estimated 9 per cent, the Government figures suggested.

The overall toll of people killed and injured on the road also fell, by 3 per cent - but the total was a surprising 271,017 individuals.

The DfT first released figures on total road casualties at the end of June this year, but that set of figures proved controversial. Road safety campaign groups said that they were based on police reports and not on hospital reports, and might therefore show a lower casualty rate than was actually the case.

The statistics issued today showed that there were 3,201 people killed on Britain’s roads last year, one per cent fewer than in 2004 - although still hundreds more than the number to die in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The number of people seriously injured last year fell seven per cent to 28,954.

A total of 141 children were killed on the roads in 2005, 25 fewer (or 15 per cent down) on the 2004 total. The number of children killed or seriously injured fell by 11 per cent last year.

Total pedestrian casualties fell by 5 per cent between 2004 and 2005, and the number of killed or seriously injured pedestrians was also down five per cent. A total of 12 per cent of all road accident casualties, and 21 per cent of those who died in road accidents, were pedestrians.

In 2005, the number of casualties among motorcycle users fell by 3 per cent and the number of deaths also fell by three per cent, to 569. Serious injuries were down 2 per cent.

Overall pedal cyclist casualties fell from 16,648 in 2004 to 16,561, a drop of one per cent, despite the rise in deaths and serious injuries.

The Government has a target to cut by 40 per cent the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 2010 compared with the average for 1994-98. Within that total it hopes to cut by half the number of children killed or seriously injured, and achieve a 10 per cent reduction in people who are slightly hurt.

So far the DfT appears to be on track to meet those goals. The department said today that in 2005 the number of people killed or seriously injured in accidents reported to the police was 33 per cent below the 1994-98 average; the number of children killed or seriously injured was 49 per cent below the 1994-98 average, and the slight casualty rate was 23 per cent below the 1994-98 average.

But earlier this year the Statistics Commission said that if it based its casualty figures on hospital statistics rather than police ones, the Dft would "not be on track" to meet its targets.

Mr King of the RAC Foundation said that it was disappointing that, despite a small decrease of one per cent in the numbers killed on the roads, the fall in road deaths had "plateaued out over the last few years".