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CHAPTER 7 INJURY ROAD ACCIDENTS
1. Introduction
1.1 This chapter provides information on injury road accidents which were reported by the police, 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
Accidents
2.1 There were 12,414 injury road accidents in 2007, 692 (5%) fewer than 2006. The number of accidents fell in most of the past ten years, and in 2007 was 25% lower than in 1997. The reported number of accidents in which someone was seriously injured, but no-one died fell quite considerably (by 39% to 2,028 in 2007). There were 255 fatal accidents in 2007 : 38 (13%) less than in 2006 (293), and the lowest figure since the current records began in 1970. The number of slight accidents (10,131) was 434 (4%) fewer than the previous year (10,565) and the lowest number since records began. ( Table 7.1)
2.2 In 2007, under two-fifths of all injury road accidents (4,680: 38%) were on non-built up roads (speed limit of more than 40 m.p.h. - see paragraph 3.8). However, such roads accounted for higher proportions of serious accidents (904: 45%) and fatal accidents (184: 72%), perhaps because speeds tend to be higher on non-built up roads than on built up roads. There was a larger reduction in accidents on built up roads (down by 29%) than non-built up roads (18% fewer). ( Table 7.1)
2.3 The trends in the number of injury road accidents between 1997 and 2007 varied between the Police Force areas across Scotland, ranging from a 12% rise (Dumfries & Galloway) to a 28% fall (Tayside). 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 20,671 vehicles involved in injury road accidents in 2007. Three-quarters of them were cars (15,484: 75%); motorcycles were the next vehicle type most often involved in accidents (1,096: 5%). Between 1997 and 2007, the number of vehicles involved in accidents fell by 27%. The extent of the changes varied between the main vehicle types (those with at least 1,000 in at least one year in the period), from a fall of 44% for pedal cycles to an increase of 15% for motorcycles. ( Table 7.3)
2.5 281 people were killed in road accidents in 2007, 33 (11%) less than the previous year and the lowest since current records began more than 50 years ago. ( Table 7.4)
Casualties
2.6 There were 2,364 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2007, 262 (10%) fewer than in 2006, and the lowest figure since records of the numbers of serious injuries began in 1950. 13,491 people were recorded as slightly injured in 2007, 834 (6%) fewer than in 2006, and the lowest number since 1954. There were a total of 16,136 casualties in 2007, 1,129 (7%) lower than in 2006. ( Table 7.4)
2.7 There were 2,645 people killed or seriously injured in road accidents in 2007 - 45% below the 1994-98 annual average level of 4,838, and a greater reduction than the 2010 target of a 40% fall. ( Table 7.4)
Child casualties
2.8 There were 1,807 child casualties in 2007, representing about 11% of the total number of casualties of all ages. There were 9 child fatalities, 267 children were seriously injured, and 1,531 were classified as slightly injured. There were 16 less child fatalities than 2006 and reductions in both the numbers of child serious casualties (down by 81 or 23%) and slight casualties (down by 117 or 7%). ( Table 7.4)
2.9 A total of 276 children were killed or seriously injured in road accidents in 2007: 67% fewer than the annual average for 1994-98 and a greater reduction than the 2010 target of a 50% fall. ( Table 7.4)
2.10 In the context of the total volume of traffic on the roads in Scotland, the 13,491 people who were recorded as slightly injured in 2007 represented 30.20 casualties per 100 million vehicle-kilometres. This was 35% below the overall slight casualty rate for the baseline 1994-98 period, and so a greater reduction than the 2010 target of a 10% fall, due to the combination of a reduction in the number of slight casualties and an increase in the volume of traffic. ( Table 7.4)
Casualty Rates & Costs
2.11 Table 7.5 provides road casualty rates per thousand population by age group and mode of transport. Overall, there were 3.14 casualties per thousand population in 2007. The casualty rate for children (0-15 years) was 1.97 per thousand population. However, the child pedestrian casualty rate (0.95 per thousand population) was almost double the pedestrian casualty rate for all ages. The young persons' (16-24 years) casualty rate in 2007 was 6.68 per thousand population, more than twice the rate for all ages. The young persons' casualty rate in cars (4.90 per thousand population) was more than double the rate for adults aged 25-59 (which was 2.10 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 2007 is estimated at £1,487 million. ( 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:
(a) an injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an in-patient
or (b) 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 (c) 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:
i the cost of damage to vehicles and property; and
ii 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
These targets were set in 2000 by the UK Government, the then Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales as part of the road safety strategy. The targets, are based on the annual average casualty levels over the period 1994 to 1998, and are for a:
- 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.
These GB targets will be reviewed in the forthcoming year by the DfT. In addition the Scottish Road Strategy will be published in 2009 and will include targets covering 2009: 2019.
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. Very few, if any, fatal accidents do not become known to the police. However, there could be many non-fatal injury accidents which are not reported by the public to the police, and so are not counted in these statistics. Road Accidents Scotland (see paragraph 5.1) provides more information on this matter.
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.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Transport-Travel/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 Government Transport Statistics Branch (tel: 0131 244 7256).
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