A spate of fatal crashes at the start of the new year were "preventable", says a councillor, who has drawn criticism for using the tragedies to "play politics".
Horror smashes have claimed six lives in the county and 11 across the entire Thames Valley since January 1.
The tragic incidents have prompted calls for improved road safety measures, such as 20mph limits and better road design.
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Among the voices is Emily Kerr, Oxford city councillor for St Mary's, who told the Oxford Times: "These deaths are preventable."
But she and others have been accused of using the fatalities to push an active travel agenda.
The dispute over road safety comes amid an outpouring of grief and tributes for the victims of the fatal crashes.
Four men, all in their 30s and 40s, have died in collisions in Oxford, Wallingford, Banbury, and Faringdon.
An 87-year-old woman died near Goring when she crashed into a fallen tree during Storm Henk.
In another tragic incident, a woman in her 40s was struck and killed by a lorry on the M40 after stepping out of her car on the hard shoulder.
Flowers have been left at the scene of some of the crashes.
Other people have paid their respects to the victims online, describing the deaths as a “great loss” and “heartbreaking”.
Green Party councillor Kerr said improved safety measures were needed to prevent “future tragedies".
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“We have seen from tragic recent events just how much impact these crashes can have on innocent families,” she said.
“We know that every road death or serious injury is preventable if we work together: we need roads to be designed safely and we need people to change the way they drive and keep to safe speeds.
“At 20mph 2.5 per cent of collisions result in death, at 30mph it’s 30 per cent.
“We need the police to enforce safe driving and accept public dashcam footage from drivers.
“We know these deaths are preventable and we need to work together to avoid future tragedies.”
Mrs Kerr called for a commitment to ‘vision zero’, a project that aims to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from crashes in Oxfordshire.
As part of the initiative, Oxfordshire County Council has been changing 30mph limits into 20mph limits in towns and villages across the county.
Labour city councillor Anna Railton, who represents Hinksey Park, called for a road design akin to some European cities.
She said: “The past month has seen a big spike in road crashes, causing death, serious injury and putting livelihoods at risk.
“None of these crashes are inevitable and we absolutely shouldn't tolerate them as simply ‘the cost of doing business’ for people in this county to travel around and live their lives.
“The examples of Oslo and Helsinki have shown that it is possible to design out these crashes and we need to do the same in Oxfordshire.”
But the calls from councillors Railton and Kerr have been described as “not appropriate” in the wake of the tragedies.
Conservative councillor Liam Walker, who is shadow highways chief on the county council, accused them of “playing politics".
He said: “It is always tragic to hear when someone has sadly died in Oxfordshire due to an incident on a road.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for councillors to be using such incidents to play politics and we’ve sadly seen this in particular with incidents in Oxford recently.
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“The council and us councillors all need to work together and focus on key problem areas by looking at ways to improve road safety to help save lives.”
As well as the fatal crashes, other serious incidents have left drivers, passengers and pedestrians with severe injuries in hospital.
A pedestrian, 72, suffered spinal and leg injuries when she was hit by a van in Faringdon.
In another incident, a man, 21, sustained broken bones and lacerations in a hit-and-run involving a small yellow car in Banbury.
Two cars have also smashed into shop fronts in the past week, causing substantial and costly damage.
In Iffley Road, Oxford, restaurants Tsang’s Kitchen and Turtle Pizza Cafe have been forced to close after being driven into by a Vauxhall SUV on Sunday.
And in Grove, Millbrook Barbers has also shut after a Vauxhall Corsa crashed through the front glass on Tuesday.
Thames Valley Police said the winter months often see an increase in serious crashes.
DCI Mike Bettington, head of the forces’ roads policing unit, said: “The effect that these have on families and our officers cannot be underestimated.”
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