Below are 15 facts about various causes of accidents, when and
where accidents happen and how speed affects the survival rate of
the drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
| 1 |
| For every 1% reduction in average traffic
speed, crashes reduce by an average of 5%. This relationship
means that even marginal reductions in average speeds can result
in major road safety gains. |
| 2 |
| Excess or inappropriate speed is a main
or contributory factor in one third of all collisions. |
3 |
| Impact speed determines the severity of
injury, e.g. at 35 mph you are twice as likely
to kill someone as you are at 30 mph (DETR 1999). 90% of pedestrians
hit by a car travelling at 30 mph will be seriously injured.
Nearly half of them will be killed. The change from mainly survivable
injuries to mainly fatal injuries takes place at speeds of between
about 30 and 40 mph. |
4 |
| Over 70% of road crashes happen on built-up
(urban) roads, but over a half of road deaths happen on non-built-up
(rural) roads. |
5 |
| Road deaths account for 74% of accidental
deaths for young people, aged 15-19 years. |
6 |
| In 1998, drivers aged 17-21 years made up
7% of all licence holders, but were involved in 15% of injury
crashes. |
7 |
| An estimated 10% of collisions are related
to driver fatigue. |
8 |
| 35% of all pedestrians killed
or seriously injured are children under 16 years. |
9 |
| Pedestrians make up just under a quarter
of all road deaths. |
10 |
| Your chances of being killed
on a motorcycle are 42 times higher (per billion passenger km)
than that as a car passenger and 307 times higher than that
as a rail passenger. |
11 |
| Mile-for-mile, company car drivers
have crash rates 30-50% higher than for comparable private drivers. |
12 |
| A half of all road deaths are
to car occupants. |
13 |
| Estimates for 2000 suggest that
6% of all road casualties and 16% of road deaths occurred when
someone was driving whilst over the legal limit for alcohol. |
14 |
| Vehicle defects are a contributory
factor in an estimated 5% of collisions. |
15 |
| 42% of deaths happen in darkness. |
information and pictures sourced from -
Road Safety Team, Gloucestershire County Council |
