Government must act now to arrest a likely increase in deaths and serious injuries on the roads as Britain recovers from recession, a prominent safety group will say on Thursday.

A third of a million people will be killed or seriously injured in this country over the two decades ending 2030 unless concerted action is taken, according to a report commissioned by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

The report has been written by road safety specialists Kit Mitchell and Richard Allsop and will be published at PACTS’ UK Road Safety Summit in London.

Sharp falls in deaths and serious injuries seen over the period of the recession may be coming to an end as the economy picks up, the report will suggest. For the year ending September 2013 there were 1730 people killed on the country’s roads, a 2% drop on the previous year. But PACTS executive director David Davies said that we can no longer rely on the recession to reduce casualties.

“Work should start now on a new national road safety strategy. A third of a million people – the equivalent of the population of Reading – will be killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads if current trends are allowed to continue,” he said.

“There are proven, cost effective and affordable ways to make our roads safer. Ambitious targets and properly resourced interventions are needed.”

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