An analysis of deaths and injuries from road traffic incidents has identified West Yorkshire and the West Midlands as the counties with highest risk of injury and the Isle of Wight and parts of Wales as the safest (Health and Place 2007 doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2007.10.001).
Between 1995 and 2000 there were 15 797 deaths, 191 870 serious injuries that needed hospital treatment, and 1 282 563 minor injuries from road traffic incidents in England and Wales.
For the NHS funded study researchers looked at geographical variations in mortality and morbidity throughout England and Wales using a number of different datasets.
The results were presented in two ways for each county. The first, the null model, was the total number of deaths and injuries. The second took into account differences in population, vehicle movements, car ownership, road length and curvature, and other factors, which made some differences to the ranking orders.
“The null model is a better reflection of local demand put onto NHS as a result of traffic accidents, whilst the second model gives an indication of how well counties are placed after accounting for the characteristics of their roads and residents,” said Andrew Jones of the University of East Anglia whose coauthors include the chief medical officer for Wales, Tony Jewell.
The results for the null model show that for deaths West Yorkshire was top, followed by West Midlands, South Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire. The counties with the lowest mortality were the Isle of Wight, West Glamorgan, and Gwynedd.
For serious injuries, the West Midlands was ranked in first place followed by West Yorkshire, Greater London, and South Yorkshire. The lowest risk was in West Glamorgan followed by neighbouring Mid Glamorgan.
West Yorkshire was top again for minor injuries followed by Merseyside and the West Midlands. The area with the lowest number was Powys, followed by Northumberland, Gwynedd, and Dyfed.
The authors say that fatalities from road traffic incidents in Britain have averaged more than 3000 a year since 1998. “Although they account for less than 1% of all deaths, a feature of mortality from this cause is that the highest incidence is amongst young adults, particularly those aged between 15 to 29 years. Because of this distinctive age distribution, road accidents are the cause of 3.6% of the total years of life lost to trauma and disease in Britain. The community burden of long and short term disability associated with injuries sustained is substantial,” they say.
They add, “Interventions such as a greater use of speed cameras and police enforcement activities, speed limit reductions, and traffic calming measures may bring considerable benefits in the shorter term.”
Their recommendations are reiterated by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, which this week published a new report calling for more 20 mph (32 kmph) speed limits to be introduced in urban areas.
The council recommends a default speed limit of 20 mph in all built-up areas and cities. Research shows that a reduction in speed limits reduces casualties. It says that a review of 250 schemes in England, Wales, and Scotland in which the speed limit was reduced to 20 mph found that road crashes fell by 60% a year.
The report, Beyond 2010: A Holistic Approach to Road Safety in Great Britain, can be seen at www.pacts.org.uk.