New Road Casualty Figures – 2007

October 8th, 2007 | by admin |

Figures from the Department of Transport confirm that total road casualties – deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries – fell 5% compared with 2005. Deaths fell 1% to 3,172, serious injuries were down 1% at 28,673 and slight injuries were down 5% at 226,559.

Failing to look properly is the main cause of road crashes in Britain.

This failure was a contributory factor in 35% of all crashes last year, statistics from the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed. Four of the six most-frequently reported contributory factors involved driver or rider error or reaction.

Pedal cyclists, followed by light goods vehicle drivers, were the most likely to be killed or injured because of failing to look, while motorcycles were most at risk from other drivers/riders failing to look properly.

For fatal crashes, the main factor was loss of control, which was involved in more than a third of such incidents.

As many as 540 (17%) of deaths involved illegal alcohol levels, down slightly on 2005 (550), but still well up on the late-1990s annual figures of around 460.

Worryingly, 11% of all reported personal injury road crashes involved a “hit-and-run” driver or rider, with more than 20% of hit-and-run deaths occurring between midnight and 4am.

Over half (56%) of hit-and-run casualties were car occupants, with a quarter of these being 20 to 29 years old.