Analysis of the On The Spot (OTS) road accident database

The UK Government is seeking to substantially reduce the number of road traffic
accidents (RTAs) leading to injury or loss of life. Specifically, relative to the average figures for 1994–98, the Government would like to meet the following road casualty reduction targets by 2010:

• a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road
accidents;

• a 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured in road
accidents;

• a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people
slightly injured per 100 vehicle kilometres.

To develop effective strategies for reducing RTAs, the cause of accidents must be
understood. With this in mind, the On the Spot (OTS) project was commissioned to
gather in-depth information at the scene of accidents. Since the data collection
began in 2000, more than 3,000 accidents have been recorded, and more than 2,000
were available when this study was started in November 2005.

An exploratory analysis of the demographic profile of the OTS database concluded
that:

• the vast majority of accidents involve cars (the most frequent road users);

• accidents that involved motorcycles had the highest proportion of Police
Accident Severity (PAS) rating of all road user categories;

• fatal and serious injury accidents were most likely to occur on ‘A’ class
‘non-trunk’ roads and 60 mph roads;

• serious accidents were less likely to occur on weekends; and

• the majority of accidents occurred between 3 pm and 8 pm.

More detailed results and implications are pursued in the report.