Organisation: Department for Transport
Date uploaded: 7th February 2017
Date published/launched: February 2017
While the number of road deaths (1,810) rose by a ‘statistically insignificant’ 2%, casualties of all severities (182,560) rose by 4%, and KSI casualties (25,160) increased by 6%.
However, the DfT points out that in the same period there was a 1.4% rise in motor traffic levels, meaning the overall casualty rate per vehicle mile fell by 5%.
In terms of road user types, KSIs increased across all categories. Car occupant KSIs increased the most, up by 10% to 9,480. Pedestrian KSIs increased by 3% to 5,480, motorcyclists by 5% to 5,650 and pedal cyclists by 2% to 3,430.
Focussing on age, there were 2,070 child (0-15 years) KSIs in the year ending September 2016, a year-on-year increase of 8%. Child pedestrian KSIs fell by 2% to 1,260, while child casualties of all severities remained at a similar level (16,080).
Looking specifically at the figures for July to September 2016, 450 people were killed in reported road accidents, unchanged from the same quarter of 2015. KSI casualties increased by 8% to 6,920 over the same period, while casualties of all severities decreased by 4%.
Child KSI casualties increased by 22% to 650, while child casualties of all severities increased by 2% in the third quarter of 2016.
One possible explanation or contributory factor leading to the increase is the implementation of the CRASH collision/casualty data reporting system which is resulting in an increase in the number of injuries classed as ‘serious’.
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