No room for complacency behind the wheel as latest road accident statistics released

In June of this year, the Department for Transport released its 2014 road casualty statistics, which worryingly showed an increase in road deaths from the previous year, plus significant increases in the number of casualties, whether that be serious or minor injuries.

“These certainly are concerning statistics when you consider that this is the first rise in the number of road deaths in the UK since 2003,” explains Catriona Ralls, Personal Injury Solicitor. “The specific numbers were 1,775 reported road deaths in 2014, compared to 1,713 in 2013; an increase of 62 lives that were lost on our roads and a number that is still far too high. It is those who are not in a vehicle who are most at risk, with the figures showing that 75% of the increase in fatalities was attributed to pedestrians and perhaps even more shocking is that the number of people killed on roads with a 20mph limit increased by 367%.”

The number of road deaths was not the only increase. “The number of casualties overall rose by 6% in 2014, totalling 194,477 people injured on our roads,” continues Catriona. “Serious injuries rose from 21,721 in 2013 to 22,807 in 2014, and minor injuries also rose from 160,430 in 2013 to 169,895. There could be a number of reasons why these increases have occurred; the rise in vehicle traffic levels by 2.4% between 2013 and 2014 could have a part to play, or the previous years figures showing a decline in road traffic accidents could have led to a level of complacency amongst drivers.

“The work of charities such as Brake has gone a long way to improve education about road safety, and we have recently become corporate donors of Brake to work closer with them and continue to participate in their Road Safety Week each year,” concludes Catriona. “The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is now also urging the Government to seriously review pedestrian safety on our roads; a move that we fully support as we regularly see the consequences of not taking care behind the wheel, or pedestrians and cyclists not being alert and taking appropriate precautions. The rules of using the road are common sense, but these figures show that there is still a long way to go in road safety awareness so that we see these statistics fall once again.”

For more information on road safety, or if you’ve had an accident on the roads and you’re interested in claiming compensation as financial support, you can contact Catriona or the other members of the Personal Injury team on 0800 91 92 30 or visit their section of the website here.

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.