Risk warnings for UK revealed with new data

New data from the UK reveals key information about road risk factors both across the country and in capital London. A new report reveals that around 68% of pedestrian casualties are adults who are at greatest risk on weekend evenings and after consuming alcohol. Meanwhile another separate study in London reveals that cyclists are not at fault in most crashes in which they are involved.

The report for the UK shows that the highest risk age is 12 years and 40% child pedestrian casualties live in the country’s most deprived areas. Pedestrian safety measures should look for separate solutions for adults and children, according to Stepping Out, a report for 3446 PACTS, the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety. Long-term and recent trends reveal that the total number of reported pedestrians killed or seriously injured on UK roads fell from 19,035 in 1980, to 5,605 in 2010. Recently, pedestrian deaths or serious injuries have levelled off at 22.9% in 2010, compared with 22.4% in 1980. But 2011 saw a 5% increase in pedestrians killed or seriously injured, including a 12% increase in pedestrian deaths. The data shows that adult and child casualties have significantly different collision characteristics and need to be treated separately. Children are more likely to be injured in spring and summer (except August) but adults have higher casualties spread distributions between October and January. Children are more likely to be injured on weekdays at morning and afternoon school times. Peaks around commuter times for adult casualties are less pronounced but there are significant numbers in late evening and night time. Adults are far more likely to be injured as a pedestrian in darkness than children. The vast majority of pedestrians are injured on roads with a 50km/h (30mph) speed limit. Most casualties (70% of children and 58% of adults) are not injured at or near a pedestrian crossing. More than three-quarters of collisions involving a pedestrian casualty (78%) have one or more contributory factor assigned to the pedestrian themselves. Of these factors, 60% are due to the pedestrian failing to look properly. The age at which pedestrians are most at risk is 12 years old with one in 651 children of that age reported as a pedestrian casualty. Pedestrian casualties, particularly child casualties, are more likely to come from deprived areas. Of all child casualties, 40% come from the most deprived 20% of society. People living in Daventry District (Northamptonshire) are least likely to be a pedestrian casualty with risk levels 60% lower than the national average. People living in Newham London Borough are most likely to be a pedestrian casualty with risk levels 111% higher than the national average. Commenting on the Stepping Out report, PACTS executive director David Davies said, “A worrying finding of this report is that there seems to have been little progress in pedestrian casualty reduction over the past three to four years. The final casualty data for 2012 (due in late June 2013) will be an important indicator. We need to design our roads and streets around people, acknowledging the realities of human behaviour. All road users have responsibilities but temporary lapses of attention should not be punished by death or serious injury.”

Richard Owen, director of Road Safety Analysis, which compiled the report for PACTS said, “All too often pedestrians are putting themselves in harm’s way through inattention and poor choices; this is also something that motorists need to be mindful of and not assume that pedestrians will make the safest choices when crossing the road.”

Simon Best, chief executive of IAM, one of the sponsors, of the report added, “Drivers and pedestrians make the same mistake – they don’t look. Better designed car fronts and new road layouts will help reduce the severity of crashes but it is clear that drivers need to be made more aware of the need to look out for pedestrians if we are to make immediate progress in reducing these worrying numbers.”

Meanwhile an analysis of police data from the City of Westminster for the last 12 months shows that 68% of road traffic incidents in the last year that resulted in injury to a cyclist and involved a motor vehicle could be attributed to the driver. In comparison however, just 20% of incidents involving a motor vehicle and a cyclist were the fault of the rider. Another key piece of data shows that in incidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, the pedestrian was at fault in 60% of the cases. The City of Westminster has published an analysis of road casualty data in its draft Cycling Plan for 2013-2026. The research is based on police data and was deemed to be at fault. The study analysed 133 incidents in which cyclists were involved in a collision with a pedestrian. The data showed that in 60% of those incidents, the cause could be attributed to the pedestrian due to factors such as failing to look properly and misjudging the speed of the bicycle. In comparison the 40% of incidents involving a pedestrian and a cyclist, contributory factors were the rider failing to look properly or travelling too fast. Only in 8% of these cases were the incidents caused by the cyclist specifically breaking road rules. The preliminary data suggests that cyclists account for an increasing percentage of casualties in the City of Westminster, although there has been a notable growth in the numbers of people using bicycles to traverse the city’s congested streets. Some 80% of cyclists killed or seriously injured were male, while

2387 Transport for London (TfL) information shows that across London males accounted for 76% of cyclists killed or seriously injured during 2010/11, while males made 72% of cycle journeys in 2011. A 2009 Transport Research Laboratory (777 TRL) report studied incidents in which cyclists had been killed or seriously injured throughout Great Britain and also showed that 80% of those killed or injured in bicycle accidents were male. But in London, a disproportionate number of victims are female each year, typically killed in collisions with trucks at intersections. The 2009 TRL report also highlighted that factors widely assumed to put cyclists at increased risk of being hit by a vehicle were in fact, only a factor in a small proportion of incidents. Wearing dark clothing while riding at night was indicated as a factor in only 2.5% of incidents analysed. Jumping red lights were cited as a factor in just 2% of incidents, with a similar 2% figure given for cyclists not using lights at night.