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Department for Transport
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Road casualties Great Britain 2006: Annual report
The Department for Transport has today published "Road Casualties Great Britain 2006: Annual Report". Headline final figures on the number of people killed and injured on the roads in Great Britain in 2006, based on information about accidents reported to the police, were first published in June 2007. This report provides more detailed information about accident circumstances, vehicle involvement and the consequent casualties in 2006, along with some of the key trends in accidents and casualties. There are also six articles containing further analysis on specific topics. The report includes the first release of provisional 2006 National Statistics on drinking and driving. Key results include:
Review of progress towards the 2010 casualty reduction targets
This article shows progress towards the Government's casualty reduction targets for Great Britain and reviews the main trends in road casualties in 2006 compared with recent years.
In 2000, the Government published a safety strategy in Tomorrow's Roads Safer for Everyone. By 2010, the aim is to achieve, compared with the average for 1994-98:
* A 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in road accidents;
* A 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured (children are defined as being those aged under 16);
* A 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres
Compared with the 1994-98 average baseline, in 2006:
* The number of people killed or seriously injured was under 32 thousand, 33 per cent below the baseline.
* The number of children killed or seriously injured was 52 per cent below the baseline.
* The slight casualty rate was 28 per cent below the baseline.
* The number of people killed was 11 per cent below the 1994-98 baseline.
* The number of children killed was 35 per cent below the 1994-98 baseline.
* In this period the traffic has risen by an estimated 15 per cent.
Drinking and driving
This article examines the subject of road accidents involving drinking and driving. It explains how drink-drive accidents and casualties are defined, followed by a description of the methodology and sources of data used to produce the estimates and to ensure their reliability.
* In 2006, it was estimated that 14,350 casualties (6 per cent of all road casualties) occurred when someone was driving while over the legal limit for alcohol. The provisional estimate of the number of deaths was 540 (17 per cent of all road deaths).
* During the 1980s, the number of KSI (killed or seriously injured) drink/drive casualties fell by nearly a half, from 9,420 in 1980 to 4,850 in 1990. There were some fluctuations from year to year from 1990 to 2002, but further more significant falls were evident in the last few years. The provisional 2006 KSI total of 2,530 is about a quarter of the 1980 level, and 4 per cent below the 2005 level.
* The number of people killed in drink-drive accidents rose from a low of 460 deaths in 1998, to 580 in 2004, falling again to an estimated 540 deaths in 2006.
* The numbers of slight injuries in drink-drive accidents showed a broadly rising trend from 1993 to 2002 but again have fallen since then. Provisional figures for 2006 suggest a fall of 7 per cent since 2005.
Contributory factors to road accidents
This article describes the scope and limitations of the contributory factors information recently added to the national road accident reporting system, and presents results from the second year of collection, including:
* Failed to look properly was the most frequently reported contributory factor and was reported in 35 per cent of all accidents. Four of the six most frequently reported contributory factors involved driver or rider error or reaction. For fatal accidents the most frequently reported contributory factor was loss of control, which was involved in 35 per cent of fatal accidents.
* Pedal cyclists, followed by LGV drivers, are the most likely to be in an accident in which they failed to look properly, (25 per cent and 23 per cent respectively). Motorcycles are most likely to be in an accident with another vehicle that failed to look properly. Drivers or riders between 40 and 49 are the least likely to fail to look properly (17 per cent), but above this age the factor increases with driver/rider age.
* In 16 per cent of accidents involving injured or killed pedestrians, the pedestrian casualty had Pedestrian masked when crossing as a contributory factor.
Hit and run accidents
This article examines trends in 'hit and run' accidents between 1997 and 2006, where these accidents occur, who is injured and which types of vehicles are involved. Key statistics include:
* Eleven per cent of all reported personal injury road accidents involve at least one hit and run driver/rider. This accounts for 6 per cent of all vehicles and 10 per cent of all casualties. These proportions have remained relatively consistent over the past three years.
* The majority of H&R injury accidents and casualties are of slight severity (approximately 90 per cent).
* Over a fifth of fatal H&R injury accidents occurred between midnight and 4 am, whilst half of all H&R accidents happened between 9 am and 6 pm.
* Over 85 per cent of H&R injury accidents were on built-up roads, with over a third of all H&R accidents occurring on A roads.
* Fifty-six per cent of casualties in H&R injury accidents were car occupants, with a quarter of these being 20-29 years old.
The use of hospital data on road accidents
This article explains the differences between the Department's STATS19 and the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data sources. It considers the factors which may affect the analysis of data trends from the HES data source, and, gives an example of the type of comparative analysis that can be done using HES data and STATS19 cycling casualty data.
* HES is a key source of information on the medical outcomes of more serious road accidents. This article describes the differences between HES and police data (STATS19), which is the main source used to track casualty rates, and explains why HES data have to be used with care for trend analysis.
* Pedal cyclist casualties account for 17 per cent of HES road traffic accident casualties in England, but only 8 per cent in the STATS19 dataset. Accidents in which the pedal cyclist did not collide with another vehicle or object account for 60 per cent of the HES pedal cyclist casualties, but only 5 per cent of STATS19 pedal cyclist casualties.
* Pedal cyclists admitted to hospital following collisions with motor vehicles are most likely to have injuries to the head or face (49 per cent) or legs or hips (36 per cent). Accidents in which there was no direct collision result in more injuries to the arms/shoulders (47 per cent).
A further article gives information on valuation of accident and casualty costs and benefits of accident prevention.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. 'Road Casualties Great Britain: 2006 - Annual Report' is published on the Department for Transport web site (http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/roadcasualtiesgreatbritain2006 ). The Stationery Office will publish a book edition at the same time. It is a continuation of the annual series of reports that used to be known as Road Accidents Great Britain: the Casualty Report. It provides a fuller account of road casualties in Great Britain than the summary of main results published on 28 June 2007.
2. The statistics relate to personal injury accidents on public roads that are reported to the police. Figures for deaths refer to persons killed immediately or who died within 30 days of the accident. This is the usual international definition, adopted by the Vienna Convention in 1968. Similar statistics of deaths on public roads, but compiled by date of registration, are published by the Registrars General.
3. Very few, if any, fatal accidents do not become known to the police. However, research conducted on behalf of the Department in the 1990s has shown that a significant proportion of non-fatal injury accidents are not reported to the police. In addition some casualties reported to the police are not recorded and the severity of injury tends to be underestimated. The Department is undertaking further research to investigate whether the levels of reporting have changed.
Further information on reporting levels and links to recent research can be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/roadaccidentstatisticsingrea1835
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
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