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CHAPTER 7 INJURY ROAD ACCIDENTS
1.
Introduction
1.1 This chapter provides information on injury road
accidents, such as the number and severity of accidents,
the police force area in which the accidents occurred, the
types of vehicle involved, the number and severity of
casualties resulting from the accidents, and the costs of
injury and non-injury accidents.
2.
Main Points
2.1 There were 13,850 injury road accidents in 2004, 49
(0.4%) fewer than in the previous year. The number of
accidents has fallen in most of the past ten years, and in
2004 was 17% lower than in 1994. There has been a
particularly large fall since 1994 in the number of
accidents in which someone was seriously injured, but
no-one died (47% fewer). The number of fatal accidents in
2004 was 281: 17 (6%) less than in 2003 (298), and the
second lowest figure since the current records of the
numbers of fatal accidents began in 1970. The number of
serious accidents in 2004 (2,312) fell by 178 (7%) from the
figure for 2003 (2,490), to the lowest figure recorded.
Although the number of slight accidents (11,257) was 146
(1%) higher than the previous year (11,111) it was still
the second lowest since records began in 1970
(Table 7.1).
2.2 In 2004, under two-fifths of all injury road
accidents (5,187: 37%) were on non-built up roads (those
with a speed limit of more than 40 m.p.h. - see paragraph
3.8). However, such roads accounted for higher proportions
of serious accidents (1,088: 47%) and fatal accidents (192:
68%), perhaps because speeds tend to be higher on non-built
up roads than on built up roads. The fall in the number of
accidents since 1994 has been much greater for built up
roads (down by 24%) than for non-built up roads (3% fewer).
(
Table 7.1)
2.3 The percentage change in the number of injury road
accidents between 1994 and 2004 varied between the Police
Force areas across Scotland, and ranged from an increase of
5% in one area to a drop of 28% in another. The figures for
an area may fluctuate from year to year, although the trend
appears to be downwards.
(
Table 7.2)
2.4 There were 23,275 vehicles involved in injury road
accidents in 2004. Three-quarters of them were cars
(17,635: 76%); buses and coaches were the next vehicle type
most often involved in accidents (1,126: 5%). Between 1994
and 2004, the number of vehicles involved in accidents fell
by 16%. The extent of the changes varied between the main
vehicle types (those with at least 1,000 or so per year),
from a fall of 44% for pedal cycles to an increase of 9%
for motorcycles.
(
Table 7.3)
2.5 307 people were killed in road accidents in 2004, 24
(7%) fewer than the previous year. The number of fatalities
was the second lowest since current records began more than
50 years ago (information about the number of casualties in
road accidents prior to 1950 is not readily available).
(
Table 7.4)
2.6 There were 2,741 people recorded as seriously
injured in road accidents in 2004, 207 (7%) fewer than in
2003, and the lowest figure since records of the numbers of
serious injuries began in 1950. 15,356 people were recorded
as slightly injured in 2004, 94 (1%) fewer than in 2003,
and the lowest number since 1955. The total number of
casualties in 2004 was 18,404, which was 325 (2%) lower
than in 2003, and the lowest figure since 1953. (
Table 7.4)
2.7 The total number of people killed or seriously
injured in road accidents in 2004 was 3,048. This was 37%
below the 1994-98 annual average level of 4,838, therefore
the reduction so far has been greater than would be needed
to achieve the 2010 target fall of 40% by means of a
constant percentage reduction.
(
Table 7.4)
2.8 There were 2,388 child casualties in 2004,
representing about 13% of the total number of casualties of
all ages. There were 12 child fatalities, 370 children were
seriously injured, and 2,006 were classified as slightly
injured. There were 5 fewer child fatalities than in the
previous year, and there were falls in both the numbers of
child serious casualties (down by 44 or 11%) and slight
casualties (down by 39 or 2%).
(
Table 7.4)
2.9 A total of 382 children were killed or seriously
injured in road accidents in 2004: 55% fewer than the
annual average for 1994-98, so the 2010 target of a 50%
reduction has been achieved.
(
Table 7.4)
2.10 In the context of the total volume of traffic on
the roads in Scotland, the 15,356 people who were recorded
as slightly injured in 2004 represented 35.97 casualties
per 100 million vehicle-kilometres. This was 23% below the
overall slight casualty rate for the "baseline" 1994-98
period, and therefore the target of a 10% reduction has
been achieved before 2010, due to the combination of fall
in the number of slight casualties and an increase in the
volume of traffic.
(
Table 7.4)
2.11
Table 7.5 provides road casualty rates per thousand population
by age group and mode of transport. Overall, there were
3.62 casualties per thousand population in 2004. The
casualty rate for children (0-15 years) was 2.55 per
thousand population. However, the child pedestrian casualty
rate (1.26 per thousand population) was more than double
the pedestrian casualty rate for all ages. The young
persons' (16-24 years) casualty rate in 2004 was 7.17 per
thousand population, almost twice the rate for all ages.
The young persons' casualty rate in cars (5.41 per thousand
population) was more than double the rate for adults aged
25-59 (which was 2.54 per thousand population). The 16-24
age group also had higher pedestrian and motor cycle
casualty rates than older people.
(
Table 7.5)
2.12 The cost of all road accidents (including "damage
only" non-injury accidents) in 2003 is estimated at £1,391
million. The corresponding estimate for 2004 will be
published in "
Road Accidents Scotland 2004"
(
Table 7.6)
3.
Notes and Definitions
3.1
Fatal injury: an injury which causes death less
than 30 days after the accident;
3.2
Fatal accident: an accident in which at least
one person is fatally injured;
3.3
Serious injury: an injury which does not cause
death less than 30 days after the accident, and which is in
one (or more) of the following categories:
- an injury for which a person is detained in
hospital as an in-patient or
- any of the following injuries (whether or not the
person is detained in hospital): fractures, concussion,
internal injuries, crushings, severe cuts and
lacerations, severe general shock requiring treatment
or
- any injury causing death 30 or more days after the
accident;
3.4
Serious accident: an accident in which at least
one person is seriously injured, but no-one suffers a fatal
injury;
3.5
Slight injury: an injury which is neither "fatal"
nor "serious" - for example, a sprain, bruise, or cut which
is not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring
roadside attention;
3.6
Slight accident: an accident in which at least
one person suffers "slight" injuries, but no-one is
seriously injured, or fatally injured.
3.7 It follows that whether some injuries are classified
as "serious" or as "slight" could depend upon hospitals'
admission policies, or upon other administrative practices,
and therefore changes in the numbers of injuries of these
two types could result from changes in admissions policies
or other administrative practices.
3
.8
Built-up roads: accidents which occur on
"built-up" roads are those which occur on roads which have
speed limits of up to 40 miles per hour (ignoring temporary
speed limits on roads for which the normal speed limit is
over 40 mph). Therefore, an accident on a motorway in an
urban area would not be counted as occurring on a
"built-up" road, because the speed limit on the motorway is
70 mph. An accident on a stretch of motorway with a
temporary speed limit of 30 mph would not be counted as
occurring on a "built-up" road, because the normal speed
limit is 70 mph.
3.9
Children: people under 16 years old.
3.10
Pedestrians: includes people riding toy cycles on
the footway; people pushing or pulling bicycles or other
vehicles or operating pedestrian-controlled vehicles, those
leading or herding animals, occupants of prams or
wheelchairs, and people who alight from vehicles and are
subsequently injured.
3.11
Estimated Accident Costs: these are intended to
encompass all aspects of the costs of casualties including
both the human cost and the direct economic cost. The human
cost covers an amount to reflect the pain, grief and
suffering to the casualty, relatives and friends, and, for
fatal casualties, the intrinsic loss of enjoyment of life
over and above the consumption of goods and services. The
economic cost covers loss of output due to injury and
medical costs. The cost of an accident also includes:
- the cost of damage to vehicles and property;
and
- the cost of police and insurance
administration.
Also estimated are the number of damage only accidents
(about 14 times the number of injury accidents) and their
average costs.
3.12
The targets for reducing road accident casualties by
the year 2010
In March 2000, the
UK Government, the Scottish Executive
and the National Assembly for Wales announced a new
national road safety strategy and casualty reduction
targets for 2010. These targets were introduced to focus on
achieving a further substantial improvement in road safety
over the next ten years, with particular emphasis on child
casualties. The targets, which are given in the document
"Tomorrow's roads - safer for everyone", are based
on the annual average casualty levels over the period 1994
to 1998. By 2010 it is hoped that there will be, compared
with the average for 1994-98:
- a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or
seriously injured in road accidents.
- 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.
4.
Sources
4.1 The statistics were compiled from returns made by
police forces, which cover all accidents in which a vehicle
is involved that occur on roads (including footways) and
result in personal injury, if they become known to the
police. The vehicle need not be moving, and need not be in
collision - for example, the returns include accidents
involving people alighting from buses.
4.2 "Damage only" accidents are not included in the
above definition, and so the road accident statistical
returns do not cover "damage only" accidents. It is thought
that the number of "damage only" accidents is about
fourteen times the number of injury road accidents.
5.
Further Information
5.1 For more detailed statistics of injury road
accidents and a full description of the terms used see "
Road Accidents Scotland" and also the "
Key Road Accident Statistics" Statistical
Bulletin. The figures they contain may differ slightly from
those published here due to late returns and amendments
made to the database in the periods between the
finalisation of the statistics for the purpose of the
publications. More details of these publications are given
under "Scottish Executive Transport Statistics
Publications".
5.2 Information about the numbers of road accidents in
Great Britain is given in the annual DfT publications, "
Road Casualties in Great Britain: main results",
"Road Casualties Great Britain" and "
Transport Statistics Great Britain".
5.3 For further information on road accident statistics
contact Andrew Knight of the Scottish Executive Transport
Statistics Branch (tel: 0131 244 7256).
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