Road Safety Wales : Statistics
7/8/08
The latest National Statistics on ‘Road Casualties in Wales: Quarterly Provisional Estimates March Quarter 2008,’ produced by the Welsh Assembly Government, were published on 7 August 2008, according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
This is the first time the Welsh Assembly Government has published quarterly road casualties data.
Statistical Release 117/2008 PDF format 236kb 
The key points from this release are:
- 22 road casualties were reported as killed
- 295 were reported as seriously injured, and
- 2,286 as slightly injured
- The number of total KSI casualties over this period, at 1,412 people, was 2 per cent higher than the previous 12 month period and 30 per cent lower than the average for 1994-98.
- The number of child KSI casualties over this period, at 142 children, was 4 per cent lower than the previous 12 month period and 51 per cent lower than the average for 1994-98.
Contact:
Tel: 029 2082 5085
E-mail: stats.transport@wales.gsi.gov.uk
26/6/08
The latest National Statistics on Road Casualties produced by the Welsh Assembly Government were released on 26 June 2008 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
Statistics on Road Casualties include data for Wales for the period up to the end of December 2007. The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 28 June 2007.
Statistical Release 91/2008 PDF format 154kb
The key points from the latest release are:
- During 2007 there were 8,340 road accidents involving personal injury recorded by the police in Wales, 361 (4 per cent) fewer than in 2006.
- These accidents resulted in 12,271 casualties, 421 (3 per cent) fewer than in 2006. Within this total:
162 people were killed on Welsh roads, 1 (1 per cent) fewer than in 2006;
1,241 people were seriously injured in 2007, 31 (3 per cent) more than in 2006;
10,868 people were slightly injured, a decrease of 451 (4 per cent) compared to the previous year.
26/6/08
The Department of Transport has today published National Statistics on road casualties in Great Britain in 2007, which relate to casualties in accidents reported to the police.
Key results include:
* The number of people killed in road accidents fell, by 7 per cent from 3,172 in 2006 to 2,943 in 2007.
* The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2007 was 3,090 (down 6 per cent on 2006). 121 children died on the roads, 20 per cent fewer than in 2006, this is the lowest ever recorded figure.
* There were 644 pedestrian deaths, 5 per cent less than in 2006.
* The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 7 per cent from 146 in 2006 to 136 in 2007.
* There were 588 motorcycle user fatalities in 2007, 2 per cent lower than during 2006. The all motorcycle user casualties figure for 2007 of 23,459 is 1 per cent higher than in 2006.
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 2007, the number of people killed or seriously injured was 36 per cent below the 1994-98 average; the number of children killed or seriously injured was 55 per cent below the 1994-98 average; and provisional estimates show the slight casualty rate was 30 per cent below the 1994-98 average.
More key results....
Download the full report PDF format 483kb
Road accident casualty figures for Wales for 2006 were published on 28 June 2007. These are based on personal injury accidents on public roads reported to the police and forwarded to the National Assembly for Wales.
During 2006 there were 8,701 road accidents involving personal injury recorded by the police in Wales, 9 (0.1 per cent) less than in 2005. These accidents resulted in 12,692 casualties, 41 (0.3 per cent) less than in 2005. Within this total:
163 people were killed on Welsh roads, 17 (9.4 per cent) less than in 2005;
1,210 people were seriously injured in 2006, 64 (5.6 per cent) more than in 2005;
11,319 people were slightly injured, a decrease of 88 (0.8 per cent) compared to the previous year.
Statistical Release PDF format 178kb
Road Casualties: Wales 2006
In 2006, 10 children were killed, 134 seriously injured and 1153 slightly injured on Welsh roads.
- 434 of the casualties were pedestrians (33%)
- 152 cyclists (12%)
- 711 vehicle passengers (55%)
- 54% of child casualties were boys 46% girls
This note is provided for information. It collates comparisons of the safety of different modes of transport, and presents some brief information relating to the nature of accidents and casualties for each mode.
Transport accidents in context. Between 1993 and 2003, there were around 12,000 accidental fatalities per year - about 2% of all deaths (table 1). Of these, transport accidents accounted for about 30% of the total - the majority (over 95%) of these transport deaths being on the roads.
Read the full report
The Department for Transport has published National Statistics on road casualties in Great Britain in 2006, which relate to casualties in accidents reported to the police.
• There were 258,404 reported casualties on roads in Great Britain in 2006, 5 per cent
less than in 2005. 3,172 people were killed, 1 per cent less than in 2005. 28,673 were
seriously injured (down 1 per cent on 2005) and 226,559 were slightly injured (down 5
per cent on 2005).
• There were 189,161 road accidents involving personal injury in 2006, 5 per cent less
than in 2005. Of these, 27,872 involved death or serious injury.
• Child casualties fell by 9 per cent. There were 169 child fatalities, 20 per cent more than
in 2005. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2006 was 3,294 down 5 per
cent on 2005. Of those, 2,025 were pedestrians, 5 per cent down on 2005.
• Car user casualties decreased by 4 per cent on the 2005 figure to 171,000 and fatalities fell
by 4 per cent to 1,612 from 1,675. Killed or seriously injured casualties were down by 2
percent from 14,617 to 14,254.
• Pedestrian casualties were 30,982 in 2006, 7 per cent less than 2005. Pedestrian
deaths were 1 per cent higher compared to 2005 at 675 but serious injuries fell by 1 per
cent to 6,376.
• Pedal cyclist casualties were 2 per cent lower than in 2005 at 16,196. There were 2,296
seriously injured casualties, 4 per cent higher than in 2005. The number of pedal cyclists
killed went down by 1 per cent from 148 to 146.
• Motorcycle user casualties were 6 per cent lower than the 2005 level at 23,326 in 2006.
The number killed rose 5 per cent to 599 while the number of seriously injured fell by 1
per cent to 5,885.
Read the bulletin in full here PDF format 622kb
In 2005, 7 children were killed, 128 seriously injured and 1260 slightly injured on Welsh roads.
- 501 of the casualties were pedestrians (36%)
- 164 cyclists (12%)
- 730 vehicle passengers (52%)
- 56% of child casualties were boys 44% girls
'Road Casualties: Wales' (previously 'Road Accidents: Wales') provides analysis of the centrally held road accident statistics database for Wales. This, the 25th volume, covers the calendar year 2005 but several tables also give historical data. In addition there are tables giving national and international comparisons.
Road Casualties: Wales 2005
April 2007
The bulletin uses personal injury road accident data compiled by the police via their completion of the Stats19 form following their attendance at accidents. From the 1 January 2005, contributory factor (CF) data was included in the data set with the aim of helping to identify the key actions, failures and occurrences that led directly to the actual impact. The CF data depend upon the skill and experience of the reporting officer to reconstruct the events which led directly to the accident, and so are more "subjective" in nature than other "Stats 19" data. This should be kept in mind when using these results.
The key results from the bulletin show that:
The contributory factor most frequently mentioned for fatal accidents is "loss of control"; other contributory factors that are more likely in fatal accidents are "driver careless, reckless or in a hurry"; "travelling too fast for the conditions"; and "exceeding the speed limit". These, together with loss of control, all suggest that higher speeds are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents compared with injury-only accidents.
Other contributory factor codes that are more associated with fatal accidents are "pedestrian failed to look properly"; and driver impaired by alcohol. In general, these results are (apart from pedestrian failed to look properly) consistent with the Transport Research Laboratory analysis suggesting that many fatal accidents are linked to poor driving standards.
Looking at the contributory factors for injury-only accidents, particularly slight accidents, suggests that these are more likely to be caused by driver mis-judgement or inattention. For example factors that are more likely for slight accidents are "failure to judge another's path or speed"; "failure to look properly"; or "poor turn or manoeuvre".
Read the bulletin in full here PDF format 64kb
- March 2007 This Statistical Bulletin assesses the relationship between drink driving and road accidents and casualties in Wales. Using a variety of data sources it concludes that drink driving was associated with:
Somewhere between 10% and 15% of accidents involving a fatality;
Around 7-8% of accidents involving a serious injury; and
Around 5% of accidents involving a slight injury.
An adult pedestrian's consumption of alcohol is associated with a significant minority of traffic accidents involving adult pedestrians:
Police assessments of contributory factors to accidents conclude that around a quarter of fatal and serious accidents involved the pedestrian concerned being "impaired by alcohol".
Read the bulletin in full here PDF format 98kb
- August 2006
Uses personal injury road accident data for Wales and compares personal injury accidents in Wales that involve young drivers (aged between 17 and 25 inclusive) with those involving other drivers. The figures cover accidents up to the year 2005 as a whole. Some of the main findings are shown below:
- Young male drivers are over 6 times more likely to be involved in an accident than older drivers (aged 26 and over; all older drivers, males and females together).
- Young female drivers are around 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident than older drivers (aged 26 and over; all older drivers, males and females together).
- All young drivers are between 4 and 5 times more likely to be involved in an accident than older drivers (aged 26 and over; all older drivers, males and females together).
- Since 1999, the reduction in total accidents has been the result of a fall in accidents amongst older drivers.
- During 2005, young drivers were involved in 3,559 personal injury road accidents in Wales. This represented over two-fifths (41 per cent) of all personal injury road accidents in Wales.
- This proportion of 17 to 25 year old drivers involved in accidents varies across Wales. The proportion is relatively higher in the Valleys, and on the Isle of Anglesey.
Read the bulletin in full here PDF format 966kb
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