Road Safety

On 31/10/12 BBC2 broadcast a programme at 11.20pm called "How Safe Are Britain's Roads".  It is a weekly series, and well worth a watch if you can spare an hour.

I have condensed some of the quotes provided in Episode 1:

In 2011 there were 1900 deaths on our roads, and 23,000 seriously injured.  Although the number of road deaths has been declining since the max in 1965 of nearly 8000, last year (2011) was the first INCREASE in road deaths for a long time.  

In 2011 there were 106 deaths on motorways, and 1041 on A roads.

The Dept for Transport estimates that every fatality costs our economy £1.7 million, and every seriously injured costs £190,000

49% of drivers drive over 70mph on motorways.

There is 3 times more traffic on our roads now than in 1966.

It is a known fact that if you increase the speed limit on any type of road, more people will be killed and seriously injured.  

Although 'A' roads account for only 10% of the road network, they account for 50% of all fatalities.  When you leave a motorway and drive on to an 'A' road you are 5 times more likely to have a collision.

1 in 3 of all people killed in 2011 were not wearing seat belts.

25% of ALL crashes involve one car hitting another from behind, and 80% of all crashes occur at a speed of around 20mph.

70% of all accidents occur on 'urban' roads.

Pedestrians account for 1 in 4 of all road deaths.

90% of accidents involve human error.