Britain’s young population suffers from road accidents rather commonly. In 2011, it was found that the most common cause of death amongst those aged between 16 and 24 was motorway accidents. This data forced MP Louise Ellman to come out and call for action. In March 2012, some worrying statistics were released regarding injuries and casualties which occurred on the road.
Between March 2011 and March 2012, there were 1870 road accidents. While this figure represented a one percent drop from the figures in March 2011 (1881 accidents occurred between March 2010 and 2011), it was still quite worrisome. On the other hand, the number of people who suffered from these accidents rose. This simply means that the accidents which occurred were worse than the ones which occurred in the previous period.
25,210 people were injured or killed in these accidents compared to 24,849 between March 2010 and March 2011. However, the total number of people affected by road accidents (which includes those who suffered from minor injuries such as cuts and bruises) fell by three percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. The figure was a staggering 202,280.
Children are often harmed by the reckless driving of others. The term “children” refers to those persons aged between 0 and 15 years. British drivers seemed to be more aware of the child passengers in their vehicles as there was a three percent drop in child injuries from 19,784 to 19,130.
While a decrease in figures is always good, it is still difficult to comprehend that so many children are hurt in road accidents in Britain. This figure, translated to an average, tells us that 52 or more British kids suffer from injuries on the road every single day. The number of children who were seriously harmed or killed by these accidents fell by two percent to 2460 nonetheless.
Fatal accidents decreased by a meager 0.5 percent from 1774 in March 2011 to 1770 in March 2012. The number of injuries occurring due to accidents reported to the police surprisingly, or rather, shockingly, fell by two percent. 150,810 injuries were reported to the authorities between March 2011 and March 2012. Motor vehicle traffic levels rose by 0.6 percent as well.
Pedestrians, despite not being the driver or passenger in any vehicle, are often sufferers in motor vehicle accidents worldwide. Britain however seemed to be more careful about pedestrians in 2012. Pedestrian casualties fell by one percent. Also car user casualties reduced by six percent. On the other hand, the statistics clearly displayed red flags for motorcyclists and pedal cyclists. Motorcyclist casualties rose by six percent while pedal cyclist casualties rose by a staggering nine percent.
As far as serious injuries and deaths are concerned, six percent more pedestrians died in road accidents compared to the March 2010 – March 2011 period. 11 percent more pedal cyclists also lost their lives. Six percent more motorcyclists were killed as well. However, six percent less car users suffered serious injuries or died in March 2012.
Hence, overall, there was a three percent overall rise in serious road accident casualties. These figures are all causes of concern for the British government. Surely, further actions will be taken in the future to prevent so many unnecessary accidents and to make British roads suffer for everyone.
Nisha represents a site called InjuryAdviceLawyers.co.uk.
NishaS