Road Death Toll still too High

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Casualty figures on our roads continue to fall according to Government figures issued today, but there is no room for complacency. Young drivers and those driving at work are still high risk.

Commenting on today's announcement by The Department of Transport, Adrian Walsh, director of RoadSafe said: "This continued decline in casualties results from a huge effort by government and many others to find new and innovative ways of reducing death and injury on our roads, however until we all accept some measure of responsibility people will continue to be killed and injured. Parents of young drivers and company bosses could make a huge difference if they took greater interest. "

"There are many companies with sensible policies on car use, but no where enough. Many accidents are caused by tiredness or using mobile phones. In addition to ensuring that employees are not put under unreasonable business pressures, employees should ensure that their staff use modern cars with good crash protection and fitted with active safety systems such as stability control as recommended earlier in the week by EuroNCAP' . Young drivers need to realise that they are vulnerable simply because they lack experience and are often not supervised by parents or indeed by their peers." He added.

Research Material:
RoadSafe is a road safety partnership of leading companies in the motor and transport industries in Britain, the Government and road safety professionals. It aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by road accidents and promote safer driving. RoadSafe publishes on on-line magazine offering advice on company drivers: www.roadsafe.com.
Key results announced by The Department of Transport include:

• The number of people killed in road accidents fell, by 8 per cent from 3,508 in 2003 to 3,221 in 2004. 34,351 people were killed or seriously injured in 2004, 8 per cent fewer than in 2003. There were 280,840 road casualties in Great Britain in 2004, 3 per cent less than in 2003.


• Provisional figures indicate that road traffic levels were 2 per cent higher than in 2003 and consequently the provisional estimate was that the overall casualty rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres was 5 per cent lower than in 2003.


• Child casualties fell by 3 per cent. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2004 was 3,905 (down 5 per cent on 2003). Of those, 2,339 were pedestrians, 2 per cent down on 2003. 166 children died, 3 per cent less than in 2003.

Further information: http://www.dft.gov.uk/...../dft_transstats_038553.hcsp
http://www.euroncap.com

On 28 June Euro NCAP issued a strong recommendation that motorists ensure their next car is fitted with a Stability Control system. Available from most manufacturers, these systems dramatically reduce the chances of being involved in an accident by helping drivers to maintain control of their vehicles. If a driver has misjudged a corner or suddenly swerves to avoid an obstacle, Stability Control can help him to avoid a skid and can turn an accident into a near-miss.

Studies have shown that cars fitted with Stability Control are less involved in certain types of accidents than those without. In Sweden *, an overall reduction of 22% has been detected, rising to 32% just in wet conditions, and a study in Japan ** has suggested a decrease in accident involvement of some 30 to 35 percent. American and German studies have shown similar positive results.

With as many as 1,000 road deaths and 13,000 serious injuries a year involving people who were at work at the time, the issue of Work-Related Road Safety (WRRS) forms a key programme for RoadSafe and we have a role to advise on how companies and other organisations can be encouraged and helped to raise their road safety standards.