Death and Injuries on Britain’s roads

Key findings from the report include:

• Since 1970, road traffic has increased by a factor of two and a half, but road deaths have fallen by more than two-thirds. There have been spectacular reductions in deaths on the roads in the last two years: 724 fewer deaths in total; 408 fewer in 2008 than 2007; 316 fewer in 2009 than in 2008.

• In 2009 compared with 2008, deaths of car occupants and motorcyclists each fell by 16%, and those of pedestrians of all ages by 13%, but for children under 16 it fell by 35%. In 10 years, deaths on motorways have fallen by 35%, on urban roads by 30% and by 40% on rural roads.

• Motorways are the safest roads; A roads have about five times as many crashes per vehicle kilometre travelled as motorways. Since the late 1980s, rural roads have overtaken urban roads to become the riskiest for deaths in road crashes.

• Car drivers aged 16–19 have the highest risk of being killed, drivers aged 60–69 have the lowest risk.

• The annual cost to the economy of all deaths and injuries on Britain’s roads is now 1% of GDP – around £13 billion; damage only accidents cost another £5 billion. Effective and successful ‘Casualty Reduction Targets’ have saved up to 31,000 lives since 1990; with each life saved valued at £1.68 million the reduction in road deaths since 1990 has saved the economy around £50 billion (at 2008 prices).

• Implementing similar casualty reduction targets for 2020 could save around 2,500 lives and £4 billion for the UK economy. Public investment targeted at improving road safety will generate huge rates of return in saved lives and fewer life-changing injuries and should be a priority for protection from public spending cuts.

• Success driving down casualties has moved the UK up the world road-safety league table of safest roads, from 6th in 2007, 4th in 2008, and to number one in 2009. Within the European Union, the UK has half the road death rates of Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Luxembourg.