Two horror crashes over Easter has seen the number of people killed on Bradford's roads this year rise to 12 - nearly half the total killed during the whole of last year.

Three teenagers died in a smash in Highgate Road, Clayton Heights, on Monday night when a Citroen Saxo was in an accident with a BMW.

Last Thursday night, Ivars Dzergacs, 22, a passenger in a Toyota Hiace minicab, was killed when it was in an accident with a stolen car.

In 2005, 25 people lost their lives on Bradford's roads, a rise on the 20 deaths during 2004.

Philip Gwynne, head of public affairs for the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partner-ship, said the number of deaths so far this year was what they would expect to see at a year's halfway point, not at Easter.

He said: "It just goes to show the effect that one accident can have on statistics. Everyone always thinks it will never happen to them. Crashes do not care who they happen to. Cemeteries are full of people of people who thought they were immune."

A total of 28 per cent of all fatal accidents in Bradford involved speed as a factor.

The casualty reduction partnership last year started a campaign in schools called Street Cred, to help spread the message of responsible driving.

It is estimated that ten per cent of all drivers in Bradford are aged 17 to 19, yet this age group accounts for a total of 30 per cent of fatal accidents and serious injuries on Bradford's roads.

Councillor Anne Hawkes-worth, Bradford Council's executive member for environment, said: "To have such a death total so early in the year is not desirable.

"However we have to accept that sometimes the accident is down to circumstance, rather than the area."