2009 Casualty Figures from the Department of Transport

Some good news has been announced in the publication of the 2009 Road Traffic Casualties from the Department of Transport although the debate still goes on about the difference between the various collecting agencies which tend to report a numbers.

Headline Figures: Killed 2,222; Seriously Injured 23,874; Total Number of Casualties 222,000. Overall about 4% down on 2008.

• The number of people killed in road accidents fell by 12 per cent from 2,538 in 2008 to 2,222 in 2009. In crashes reported to the police 26,096 people were killed or seriously injured in 2009, 6 per cent fewer than in 2008. There were just over 222,000 road casualties in Great Britain in 2009, 4 per cent less than in 2008.
• The number of deaths among car users in 2009 was 1,059, 16 per cent less than in the previous year. The number seriously injured in accidents reported to the police fell by 6 per cent to 10,053. Total reported casualties among car users were 143,412, 4 per cent lower than 2008. Car and taxi traffic remained at about the same level as in 2008.
• Reported Child casualties fell by 6 per cent. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2009 was 2,671 (down 5 per cent on 2008). Of those, 1,660 were pedestrians, 7 per cent down on 2008. 81 children died on the roads, 43 less than in the previous year, a reduction of over a third.
• There were 500 pedestrian deaths, 13 per cent less than in 2008. Reported seriously injured casualties fell by 9 per cent to 5,545. The all pedestrian casualty figure fell to 26,887 in 2009, 6 per cent lower than 2008.
• The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 10 per cent from 115 in 2008 to 104 in 2009. The number of seriously injured rose by 6 per cent to 2,606. The total casualties among pedal cyclists rose by 5 per cent to 17,064.
• There were 472 motorcycle user fatalities in 2009, 4 per cent lower than during 2008. The number reported as seriously injured fell by 4 per cent to 5,350. Total reported motorcycle user casualties fell by 4 per cent to 20,703 in 2008. Motorcycle traffic rose by 2 per cent over the same period. The all motorcycle user casualties figure for 2009 of 20,703 is 4 per cent lower than in 2008.
• There were 163,554 road accidents reported to the police involving personal injury in 2009, 4 per cent fewer than in 2008. Of these, 21,997 accidents involved serious injuries, 5 per cent fewer than in 2008 (23,121).

In 2000, the Government announced a new road safety strategy and set new targets for reducing casualties by 2010. It wants to see:

• 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents compared with the average for 1994-98;
• 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured;
• 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.

In 2008, the number of people killed or seriously injured was 40 per cent below the 1994-98 average; the number of children killed or seriously injured was 59 per cent below the 1994-98 average; and provisional estimates show the slight casualty rate was 36 per cent below the 1994-98 average.