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SCOTTISH TRANSPORT STATISTICS No 23: 2004 Edition

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 13,853 injury road accidents in 2003, 3% fewer than in the previous year. The number of accidents has fallen in most of the past ten years, and in 2003 was 17% lower than in 1993. There has been a particularly large fall since 1993 in the number of accidents in which someone was seriously injured (32% fewer). The number of fatal accidents in 2003 was 298, which was 24 (9%) more than in 2002 (274) and was the fourth lowest figure since the current records of the numbers of fatal accidents began in 1970. The number of serious accidents in 2003 (2,476) fell by 200 (7%) from the figure for 2002 (2,676), to the lowest figure recorded. The number of slight accidents (11,079) was 299 (3%) lower than the previous year (11,378) and also the lowest since records began in 1970 (Table 7.1).

2.2 In 2003, under two-fifths of all injury road accidents (5,160: 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 (1,100: 44%) and fatal accidents (213: 71%), presumably because speeds will tend to be higher on non-built up roads than on built up roads. The fall in the number of accidents since 1993 has been much greater for built up roads (down by 21%) than for non-built up roads (9% fewer). (Table 7.1)

2.3 The percentage fall in the number of injury road accidents between 1993 and 2003 varied across Scotland, from declines of 1% and 5% in two Police Force areas to drops of 23% and 34% in other areas. (Table 7.2)

2.4 There were 23,356 vehicles involved in injury road accidents in 2003. Three-quarters of them were cars (17,646: 76%); motorcycles were the next vehicle type most often involved in accidents (1,149: 5%). Between 1993 and 2003, the number of vehicles involved in accidents fell by 15%. The extent of the changes varied between the main vehicle types (those with around 1,000 or so per year), from a fall of 32% for pedal cycles to an increase of 3% for motorcycles. (Table 7.3)

2.5 331 people were killed in road accidents in 2003, 27 (9%) more than the previous year. The number of fatalities was the fourth 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 2,933 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2003, 288 (9%) fewer than in 2002, and the lowest figure since records of the numbers of serious injuries began in 1950. 15,405 people were recorded as slightly injured in 2003, 329 (2%) fewer than in 2002, and the lowest number since 1955. The total number of casualties in 2003 was 18,669, which was 590 (3%) lower than in 2002, and the lowest figure since 1953. (Table 7.4)

2.7 The total number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents in 2003 was 3,264. This was 33% 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 2,470 child casualties in 2003, representing about 13% of the total number of casualties of all ages. There were 17 child fatalities, 414 children were seriously injured, and 2,039 were classified as slightly injured. There were 3 more child fatalities than in the previous year, but there were falls in both the numbers of child serious casualties (down by 99 or 19%) and slight casualties (down by 180 or 8%). (Table 7.4)

2.9 A total of 431 children were killed or seriously injured in road accidents in 2003: 49% fewer than the annual average for 1994-98, so the 2010 target of a 50% reduction has almost been achieved. (Table 7.4)

2.10 In the context of the total volume of traffic on the roads in Scotland, the 15,405 people who were recorded as slightly injured in 2003 represented 36.64 casualties per 100 million vehicle-kilometres. This was 20% 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 3.69 casualties per thousand population in 2003. The casualty rate for children (0-15 years) was 2.62 per thousand population. However, the child pedestrian casualty rate (1.27 per thousand population) was more than double the pedestrian casualty rate for all ages. The young persons' (16-24 years) casualty rate in 2003 was 7.21 per thousand population, almost twice the rate for all ages. The young persons' casualty rate in cars (5.40 per thousand population) was more than double the rate for adults aged 25-59 (which was 2.61 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 2002 is estimated at £1,345 million. The corresponding estimate for 2003 will be published in "Road Accidents Scotland 2003" (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

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" and "Transport Statistics Great Britain".

5.3 For further information on road accident statistics contact Scott Brand of the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics Branch (tel: 0131 244 7255).

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