Industry News
DfT/ONS report 2005 road casualty figures down 3% on 2004
30th June 2006
There were 271,017 reported casualties on roads in Great Britain in 2005, 3% fewer than in 2004. 3,201 people were killed, 1% fewer than in 2004. 28,954 were seriously injured (down 7% on 2004) and 238,862 were slightly injured (down 3% on 2004).
There were 198,735 road accidents involving personal injury in 2005, 4% fewer than in 2004. Of these, 27,942 involved death or serious injury. Child casualties fell by 9%. There were 141 child fatalities, 15% fewer than in 2004. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2005 was 3,472, down 11% on 2004. Of those, 2,134 were pedestrians, 9% down on 2004.
Car user casualties decreased by 3% on the 2004 figure to 178,302 although fatalities remained at the same level.
Pedestrian casualties were 33,281 in 2005, 5% fewer than in 2004. Pedestrian deaths were unchanged compared to 2004 at 671 and serious injuries fell by 5% to 6,458.
Cyclist casualties were 1% lower than in 2004 at 16,561. There were 2,212 seriously injured casualties, 2% more than in 2004. The number of cyclists killed went up by 10% from 134 to 148. Powered two wheeler user casualties were lower than the 2004 level at 24,824 in 2005. The number killed fell 3% to 569 and the number of seriously injured also fell by 2% to 5,939.
In 2000, the government set a new target for a reduction in the number of casualties to achieve a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 2010, compared with the average for 1994-98; a 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured; and a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.
Figures for reported casualties in 2005 indicate the number of people killed or seriously injured was 33% below the baseline; the number of children killed or seriously injured was 49% below the baseline; and that the provisional estimate of the slight casualty rate was 22% below baseline.
The RAC Foundation expressed concern that the fall in road deaths has plateau’d over the last few years, and at the rise in the number of cyclists killed. Some of the increase will be due to the rise in the number of cyclists, and the Foundation believes that a campaign encouraging better training of both cyclists and motorists could help to reduce casualties.
The Association of British Drivers issued a release saying it believed the 2005 road accident figures - coming close after Oxford University issued statistics indicating no real reductions in road injury statistics - are “profoundly damning of current road safety policy”. Mark McArthur-Christie, the ABD's Director of Policy said. "Since the early 1990s, policy has majored on compliance with speed limits above all else and now we\'re paying the price in lives. We have a road safety policy that is a lame one-trick pony, simply because it fails to recognise the complexity of the driving and riding tasks".
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