Drop in road casualties marred by controversy
The number of fatalities from road accidents has decreased
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Thursday, 28, Sep 2006 03:09
The number of people killed on Britain's roads has dropped by one per cent, new government statistics have revealed today.
But the publication of the Department for Transport's (DfT) annual figures has been overshadowed by controversy after they came under attack from road safety campaigners who claim they are inaccurate.
The figures show that in 2005, 3,201 people were killed on the roads, which represents a one percentage point decrease on the previous year.
Seven per cent fewer people were seriously injured (28,954) meaning that the total number of road casualties dropped by three per cent to 271,017.
The figures also reveal a notable drop in the number of children injured or killed in road accidents, with 25 fewer dying in 2005 than in 2004 (141 from 166), and an 11 per cent reduction in total casualties, which include all injuries.
Provisional estimates suggest that there were 560 drink-driving related deaths, a decrease of three percent, while total drink-driving casualties are estimated to have fallen by nine per cent.
But there has been a two per cent increase in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on the roads, with a ten per cent increase in deaths recorded (134 to 148). There was, however, a drop in the total casualty rate for cyclists - down by one per cent.
The number of casualties and deaths among motorcycle users both fell by three per cent and there were 569 recorded deaths last year.
Today's figures have been questioned by campaign group Safe Speed, however, which points out that they do not correspond to hospital statistics published in the British Medical Journal, which suggest there has been no fall in hospitalisations after road accidents in a decade.
"Department for Transport serious injury figures show that targets are being met, while the much more reliable hospitalisation statistics show no improvement whatsoever," Safe Speed said.
Paul Smith, the campaign group's founder, said: "Whatever today's statistics might say, the roads are not getting safer.
"Big ongoing gains in engineering safety (road and vehicles) and ongoing gains in post crash care are no longer being reflected as a reduction in casualties."
He added: "Department for Transport policies are supported only by false assumptions and twisted statistics. 'Speed kills' and speed cameras are right at the centre of the problem. I can only assume that Department for Transport have been blinded by the constant flashing of their own infernal cameras."
The DfT said that exceeding the speed limit or going too fast for conditions was a contributory factor in 15 per cent of all accidents, although that figure increased to 26 per cent when considering fatal accidents.