UK road safety sees good and bad

There is both good and bad to be seen in the latest data on UK road safety from the Department for Transport (DfT). For the year ending September 2015 there were 23,700 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a 3% decrease compared with the previous year. However road deaths increased by 3% to 1,780, compared with 1,731 for the year ending September 2014. There were also 188,830 reported road casualties of all severities, 3% lower than for the year ending September 2014. Of note is the fact that motor
February 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
RSSThere is both good and bad to be seen in the latest data on UK road safety from the 5432 Department for Transport (DfT). For the year ending September 2015 there were 23,700 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a 3% decrease compared with the previous year. However road deaths increased by 3% to 1,780, compared with 1,731 for the year ending September 2014. There were also 188,830 reported road casualties of all severities, 3% lower than for the year ending September 2014. Of note is the fact that motor traffic levels rose by 2.2% compared with the 12 month period ending September 2014. Using this data, the overall casualty rate/vehicle mile decreased by 5% for the same period.

Between July and September 2015 there were 450 road deaths, a 2% decrease from the same quarter in 2014. And KSI casualties decreased by 3% with slightly injured casualties and overall total casualties both falling by 1% compared with the same quarter in 2014.

The data for vulnerable road users shows a gain for safety. The KSI figures for the year ending September 2015 cyclists saw a 5% decrease to 3,340, while the KSI figures for pedestrians dropped 4% to 5.300 and the KSI figures for motorcyclists dropped 3% to 5,350. The KSI figures for car occupants also fell 3% to 8,580. Child KSI casualties dropped 8% to 1,900.

Road safety charity 3963 Brake says it is disappointed over these figures. An estimated 5,620 drink-drive crashes took place in Great Britain in 2014, equivalent to just over 15 collisions/day. These crashes resulted in 240 deaths and represent 14% of all deaths on the roads; there were 8,220 casualties.

Brake’s campaigns director Gary Rae said, “Behind the statistics, families are ripped apart by what is a violent and sudden death. I want to know what the government intends to do to stop these wholly preventable deaths. It’s time for them to take action: reintroduce casualty reduction targets; reduce the drink drive limit to 20mg per 100ml of blood, and introduce much tougher penalties for criminal drivers.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Thailand’s dangerous roads prove risky for users
    January 4, 2016
    Late December and early January has proven to be a dangerous time to use the roads in Thailand. Official data shows that there were 3,092 road crashes, causing 3,216 injuries and 340 deaths in the period between the 29th December 2015 and the 3rd January 2016. The death toll was the highest in Nakhon Ratchasima at 15, while the number of injuries and accidents were the highest in Chiang Mai, both at 125. A total of 339 crashes occurred nationwide on 3 January 2016 with 361 injuries and 48 deaths. Among the
    Read More
  • Cambodia’s crashes – cause for concern
    January 7, 2016
    A report from Cambodia’s General Commissariat of National Police gives cause for concern at country’s high rate of road crashes. Fatalities from road crashes in 2015 rose to 2,265, a climb of 5% compared to 2014. There were 9,775 people injured in road crashes in Cambodia in 2015, a drop of 4% compared with 2014. An accurate figure for the number of road crashes in 2015 has yet to be released by the General Commissariat of National Police but an estimate puts this at around 4,600, compared with the official
    Read More
  • London police mapping crash data
    June 27, 2013
    London’s Metropolitan Police Service is using the latest desktop mapping software to collate essential data about road traffic collisions. The advanced Geographical Information System (GIS) from GGP Systems in being used to identify and map the exact location of incidents where a personal injury has occurred and prepare detailed reports for the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL). This can be used to highlight problem areas, with plans for improving infrastructure then being drawn
    Read More
  • Algeria’s improving road safety
    August 22, 2018
    Algeria is seeing a major improvement in road safety due to a combination of better driver education and tougher enforcement actions. Official figures show a 59% drop in road crashes in the last three years. In the period from 1st January to 17th August 2014 there were 24,388 recorded road crashes compared with 20,631 for the same period in 2015, 14,452 in 2016, 10,505 in 2017 and 6,928 in 2018. During the first seven months of 2018 there were 5,076 road crashes in Algeria, which resulted in 1,512
    Read More

Highlighted Content