Rise in Number of Serious Injuries on Britain’s Roads

The Department for Transport has published statistics revealing the number of personal injury road traffic accidents reported to the police in Britain during the year ending September 2016.

The figures show that there were a total of 25,160 people killed or seriously injured (KSI casualties) on the roads, which is a rise of 6% over the previous twelve month period. There were 182,560 casualties of all severities during the year, down by 4% from the previous year.

Injury Breakdown by Road User Type

The figures also provide a breakdown of the types of road users being injured on the roads over the year, and show that:

• KSI casualties increased for all road user groups
• Car occupant KSI casualties increased the most, by 10% to 9,480, and pedestrian KSIs increased by 3% to 5,480
• Motorcyclist KSI casualties increased by 5% to 5,650 and pedal cyclist KSIs increased by 2% to 3,430
• There were 2,070 child (aged 0-15) KSI casualties, an increase of 8% from the year ending September 2015. Child pedestrian KSIs decreased by 2% to 1,260. Child casualties of all severities remained at similar levels as the previous year, at 16,080.

Third Quarter Figures

In addition to the annual figures, the Department for Transport statistics also show the number of injuries occurring over the third quarter of 2016, from July to September.

In this period, 450 people were killed in reported road accidents, which is apparently unchanged from the same quarter of 2015. However, KSI casualties increased by 8% to 6,920.

When looking at individual road user groups over the quarter, the figures show that KSI casualties increased for all road user groups. The figures also reveal that:

• Motorcyclist KSI casualties increased by 14% to 1,890 in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year. Pedal cyclist KSIs increased by 10% to 1,120 and car occupant KSIs increased by 7% to 2,380. Pedestrian KSIs increased slightly by 1% to 1,250 compared with the same quarter of 2015
• Child KSI casualties increased by 22% to 650 and child casualties of all severities increased by 2%. Child pedestrian KSIs increased by 6% to 350

Reaction to the Figures

A number of road safety organisations have reacted to the latest figures, including the RAC, which expressed its concern over the latest injury numbers.

“A 22% increase in the number of children killed or seriously injured on British roads between July and September 2016 compared to the same period the year before is truly shocking,” commented RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams. “And, an estimated 2% rise in child casualties of all severities is yet more reason to worry.”

“In the 21st century this seems utterly wrong so we need to understand as a matter of priority why these increases have occurred and take action to save young lives before more are lost,” he said.

“It is also very concerning – even against a picture of a 1.4% rise in traffic levels – that the figures for all road casualties are showing a 6% increase in the number of people who were killed or seriously injured in the year ending September 2016,” he said. “Sadly, among the worst increases were 10% more car occupants being killed or seriously injured along with 5% more motorcyclists and 2% more cyclists.”

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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