SOMERSET ROAD SAFETY PARTNERSHIP CASUALTY REVIEW Working together to reduce casualties

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1 CASUALTY REVIEW Working together to reduce casualties 3

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3 CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 2 INTRODUCTION: CASUALTY REDUCTION TARGETS 3 3 COLLISION AND CASUALTY TRENDS 4 4 KILLED AND SERIOUSLY INJURED (KSI) CASUALTY REDUCTION KSI targets and yearly figures KSI casualties by user type 7 5 CHILD CASUALTY REDUCTION KSI child casualties Total child casualties Child casualties as a percentage of Somerset total Child casualties by age Child casualties by user type 12 6 SLIGHT CASUALTIES Slight casualty targets and yearly figures Slight casualties by user type 14 7 KSI CASUALTIES AGE GROUP age group KSI and yearly figures age group casualties by severity age group casualties by user type 17 8 RURAL AND URBAN CASUALTIES Rural and Urban casualties by severity Rural and Urban casualties by user type 2 9 ALL CASUALTIES All casualties by speed limit All casualties by road class All casualties by age group All casualties by district Older drivers 26 APPENDIX 28 SOMERSET ROAD SAFETY PARTNERSHIP 1

4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 The Somerset Road Safety Partnership is tasked with reducing collisions and casualties on the county s roads in line with targets set out in the Local Transport Plan and among at risk groups including children, young drivers and motorcyclists. This review is updated annually to provide a rolling three-year report, charting progress towards those targets and highlighting trends. The analysis of the figures for 29 shows although the total number of collisions and casualties on Somerset roads in 29 went down by nine per cent, deaths and serious injuries rose the total number of casualties in 29 was 219, compared with 2228 the previous year. However, there were 34 deaths, five higher than in 28, and serious injuries went up from 245 to 27 the total of 34 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in 29 was 34 above the target figure a significant contributory factor was the rise in KSI casualties on trunk roads the M5, A33 and A36 which went up from 23 in 28 to 37 last year a total of 26 people were killed or seriously injured on the motorway within the county boundaries, up from nine in 28 analysis shows an exceptionally high number of KSI casualties (15) occurred in July, August and September, 24 per cent higher than the average for this quarter in the previous three years slight casualties continue to fall with the 29 total of 1715 being 12 per cent below that for 28, and well within the target figure the total number of children (-15 years) injured on Somerset roads in 29 was 155, a fall of 46 casualties (23 per cent) from the previous year the number of fatalities in the year age group fell by 25 per cent in 29 when compared with the figures for 28, and slight casualties in this age group fell by five per cent there were 57 KSI injuries in the Powered Two Wheeler category, a reduction of 13 casualties when compared to 28 the percentage of KSI casualties resulting from collisions involving drivers aged 6 and over has increased and an educational package is being designed to make older drivers aware of the problems and give advice. 2 For more information about the Somerset Road Safety Partnership and its casualty reduction programmes, please visit our website

5 INTRODUCTION: CASUALTY REDUCTION TARGETS 2 The Somerset Road Safety Partnership was formed in 26 to bring together the extensive experience and expertise from a number of organisations to drive down casualty rates, create safer communities and improve the quality of life for all residents and visitors to Somerset. The partners include Somerset County Council, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, NHS Trusts, Highways Agency, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Safecam (Safety Camera Partnership). It is a key objective of the Partnership to reduce casualty rates in line with agreed targets. After a review of the Government targets, the Local Transport Plan identified the following targets for Somerset: 1 A 35 per cent reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSI) on the county s roads compared to the baseline. 2 A 5 per cent reduction in child KSI casualties. 3 The maintenance of slight casualty figures at the baseline average. The acquisition and analysis of road casualty data is at the core of the Partnership s operations, highlighting at risk groups of road users, locations with high collision rates and monitoring the effectiveness of casualty reduction campaigns. This report provides an analysis of the casualty statistics for the period 27 to 29, with particular reference to the target groups, and shows progress towards the key objectives set by the Partnership and in the Local Transport Plans. 3

6 3 COLLISION AND CASUALTY TRENDS COLLISIONS % CHANGE 28 TO 29 FATAL % SERIOUS % SLIGHT % % COLLISIONS Although the total number of collisions in Somerset fell during 29, those resulting in deaths or serious injuries went up. The number of injury collisions in 29 was nine per cent less than in 28 and 19 per cent lower than in 27. However, the number of collisions in which people were killed or seriously injured (KSI) increased by four per cent when compared with 28. The number of collisions in which there were multiple KSI casualties doubled from 12 to 24 in In 28 collisions resulting in two or more KSI casualties made up 12 per cent of the total KSI casualties for the year. In 29 that figure rose to 21 per cent.

7 3.2 CASUALTIES % CHANGE 28 TO 29 FATAL % SERIOUS % SLIGHT % % CASUALTIES The number of injury collisions in 29 was 9% less than in 28 There were 34 deaths on Somerset roads in 29, an increase of 17 per cent compared to the previous year. Serious injuries also went up from 245 to 27, a rise of ten per cent. But the total number of people injured on Somerset roads dropped by nine per cent from 2,228 in 28 to 219 in 29. Slight casualties decreased by 12 per cent in 29. 5

8 4 KILLED AND SERIOUSLY INJURED (KSI) CASUALTY REDUCTION The M5, A33 and A36 roads in Somerset are the responsibility of the Highways Agency. Twelve per cent of the KSI casualties within the county boundaries during 29 occurred on these three trunk roads. These figures have been included in the Somerset statistics. 4.1 KSI CASUALTY REDUCTION ACTUAL YEARLY TARGET KSI CASUALTIES ACTUAL YEARLY TARGET The biggest rise of KSI casualties occurred from July September After a steady decline in the previous four years, the number of KSI casualties increased in 29 and was 11 per cent above the figure for 28 and one per cent above the total in 27. The 29 target for KSI casualties was 27; the actual number of KSI casualties was 34 above this figure. A contributory factor was the steep rise in the number of KSI casualties on trunk roads the M5, A33 and A36. A total of 37 people were killed or seriously injured on trunk roads in Somerset in 29 compared with 23 in the previous year. Of these KSI casualties, 26 occurred on the motorway, up from nine in 28. A breakdown of the KSI figures by date shows the biggest rise occurred in the third quarter of the year (July, August and September). 6 In the three years 26-28, the average number of KSI casualties in these three summer months was 85. In 29 it rose to 15 an increase of 24 per cent.

9 4.2 KSI CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE FATAL KSI FATAL KSI FATAL KSI PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLES POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS GOODS VEHICLES OTHER MOTOR VEHICLES OTHER NON MOTOR VEHICLES KSI CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLES POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS GOODS VEHICLES OTHER MOTOR VEHICLES OTHER NON MOTOR VEHICLES The number of motorcyclists/moped riders and passengers killed and seriously injured in the county in 29 fell by 19 per cent compared to 28, with deaths down by 5 per cent. There were 17 KSI casualties in cars/taxis in 29, a rise of 32 on the previous year. Cyclists and pedestrian KSI casualties also rose slightly in 29, by 22 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. 7

10 CHILD CASUALTY REDUCTION 5 In order to meet the target of a 5 per cent reduction, the number of children killed and seriously injured on Somerset s roads will have to come down to 16 or fewer by the end of 21. The low numbers of casualties in this category means that some fluctuation is inevitable. 5.1 KILLED AND SERIOUSLY INJURED (KSI) CHILD CASUALTIES FATAL 2 SERIOUS KSI CHILD CASUALTIES In 29 there were 23 child KSI casualties, of which two were fatalities 5 8 In 29 there were 23 child KSI casualties of which two were fatalities. One of the deaths occurred on the M5 motorway which is a trunk road. The 29 figure is 15 higher than in 28 but five less than in 27. However, the 28 total was uncharacteristically low when compared with the average of 25 child KSI casualties a year for the previous five years. 8

11 5.2 CHILD CASUALTIES KSI SLIGHT CHILD CASUALTIES SLIGHT KSI The total number of child casualties in 29 was the lowest for at least 15 years, with the figure of 155 being 24 below the average for the period of this review. Slight casualties decreased by 32 per cent when compared with 28 9

12 5.3 CHILD CASUALTIES AS PERCENTAGE OF SOMERSET CASUALTIES CHILD SOMERSET CHILD CASUALTIES 7% 9% 8% CHILD CASUALTIES AS PERCENTAGE OF SOMERSET CASUALTIES 12% 1% % 6% 4% 2% % OTHER AGE GROUPS CHILD CASUALTIES In 29 child casualties made up eight per cent of the total casualties in Somerset. This was a decrease of one per cent when compared to the percentage for 28. 1

13 5.4 CHILD CASUALTIES BY AGE % CHANGE 28 TO 29 Casualties in the age group went up by 7% in 29-3 YEARS % 4-7 YEARS % 8-11 YEARS % YEARS % % CHILD CASUALTIES BY AGE YEARS 4-7 YEARS 8-11 YEARS YEARS Analysis shows there was an increase in the number of 12 to15 year olds injured on the county s roads in 29. Casualties in all the other age groups fell by an average of 35 per cent. 11

14 5.5 CHILD CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE % CHANGE 28 TO 29 PEDESTRIANS % PEDAL CYCLISTS % CARS & TAXIS % OTHER USERS % % CHILD CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE There was a 27% fall in child pedestrian casualties in 29 2 PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLISTS CARS & TAXIS OTHER USERS The number of children injured while travelling as car passengers fell by 21 per cent in 29. There was also a 27 per cent fall in child pedestrian casualties in 29 compared with the previous year. But the number of child cyclists injured on the roads rose by four per cent in 29 compared with 28, although the total was 22 per cent lower than in

15 SLIGHT CASUALTIES SLIGHT CASUALTIES - TARGETS AND YEARLY FIGURES BASELINE ACTUAL YEARLY TARGET SLIGHT CASUALTIES ACTUAL YEARLY TARGET The number of slight casualties has continued to fall over the past two years, and the total of 1715 in 29 was 475 below the target figure. Slight casualties were down 12 per cent on 28 and 21 per cent on

16 6.2 SLIGHT CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE % CHANGE 28 TO 29 PEDESTRIANS % PEDAL CYCLISTS % POWERED 2 WHEELERS % CARS/TAXIS % GOODS VEHICLES % OTHER MOTOR VEHICLES % OTHER NON MOTOR VEHICLES % % SLIGHT CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE The number of cyclists slightly injured in 29 rose by 17% PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLISTS POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS GOODS VEHICLES OTHER MOTOR VEHICLES OTHER NON MOTOR VEHICLES In 29 the number of Powered Two Wheeler users sustaining slight injuries on Somerset roads fell by 33 per cent when compared with 28 and by 47 per cent when compared with 27. There were also falls in slight injuries among pedestrians, down five per cent, and car/taxi drivers and passengers which went down by ten per cent However, the number of cyclists with slight injuries rose by 17 per cent in

17 KSI CASUALTIES AGE GROUP KSI CASUALTIES YEARS CASUALTIES KSI CASUALTIES YEARS The number of KSI injuries in the year age group showed an increase of 18 per cent in 29 when compared with 28, but a decrease of seven per cent compared with

18 AGE GROUP CASUALTIES BY SEVERITY Fatalities in the age group fell by 25% in 29 FATAL SERIOUS % CHANGE 28 TO % % KSI % SLIGHT % % % OF SOMERSET 28% 28% 3% AGE GROUP CASUALTIES BY SEVERITY FATAL SERIOUS SLIGHT There was a reduction of 25 per cent in the number of fatalities in the year age group in 29, although serious injuries rose by 24 per cent. Slight injuries decreased by five per cent when compared with 28, and by 15 per cent compared with

19 7.3 CASUALTIES AGE GROUP BY USER TYPE % CHANGE 28 TO 29 PEDESTRIANS % PEDAL CYCLISTS % POWERED 2 WHEELERS % CARS/TAXIS % OTHER USERS % % CASUALTIES AGE GROUP BY USER TYPE PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLISTS POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS OTHER USERS The figures for 29 show a reduction of 22 per cent in the number of Powered Two Wheeler casualties in the year age group. Pedal cyclist casualties in this age group also fell by 26 per cent in 29 compared with the previous year. The number of year old casualties who were car/taxi drivers or passengers rose from 466 in 28 to 487 in 29, an increase of five per cent. In 29 there were four per cent fewer year old pedestrian casualties. 17

20 RURAL AND URBAN CASUALTIES RURAL AND URBAN CASUALTIES BY SEVERITY RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN KSI SLIGHT

21 CASUALTIES ON RURAL ROADS KSI SLIGHT CASUALTIES ON URBAN ROADS KSI SLIGHT Casualties on urban roads fell in 29 On rural roads, the number of KSI casualties decreased from 175 in 27 to 159 in 28 (nine per cent) but then rose to 195 in 29 (an increase of 23 per cent). Casualties on urban roads decreased by nine per cent from 27 to 28 and decreased again by five per cent from 28 to 29. Slight casualties fell on both rural and urban roads from 27 to 28 and again from 28 to 29. The decrease over the past three years was 23 per cent on rural routes and 19 per cent on urban roads. 19

22 8.2 RURAL AND URBAN CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLISTS POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS GOODS VEHICLES OTHER USERS RURAL AND URBAN CASUALTIES BY USER TYPE RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN RURAL URBAN PEDESTRIANS PEDAL CYCLISTS POWERED 2 WHEELERS CARS/TAXIS GOODS OTHER USERS 2

23 ALL CASUALTIES ALL CASUALTIES BY SPEED LIMIT SPEED 27 % OF 28 % OF 29 % OF % CHANGE 28 TO % 42 2% 28 1% -33% % 83 37% % -6% % 149 7% 161 8% +8% % 141 6% 113 6% -2% % % % -15% % 155 7% 167 8% +8% % % 219 1% -9% SPEED LIMITS IN WHICH CASUALTIES OCCURRED ALL CASUALTIES BY SPEED LIMIT Casualties on roads with a 7mph speed limit went up by 8% in 29 The number of casualties resulting from collisions in 3mph speed limits fell by six per cent from 28 to 29. There were also reductions in the number of casualties in 5 and 6mph zones of 2 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. However, casualties on roads with a 7mph speed limit went up by eight per cent in 29. Just over three-quarters of all casualties in Somerset result from collisions on roads with 3mph or 6mph speed limits. During the last three years, the average percentage of Somerset casualties that occurred in 3mph speed limits was 38 per cent and the average percentage in 6mph speed limits was 39 per cent. 21

24 9.2 ALL CASUALTIES BY ROAD CLASS ROAD CLASS 27 % OF 28 % OF 29 % OF % CHANGE 28 TO 29 M 167 7% 15 5% 128 6% +22% A % % % -1% B % % % -3% U % 74 33% 63 31% -15% % % 219 1% -9% ALL CASUALTIES BY ROAD CLASS MOTORWAYS A ROADS B ROADS UNCLASSIFIED ROAD CLASS CASUALTIES BY ROAD CLASS SHOWING AVERAGE FOR MOTORWAY 6% B ROADS 11% UNCLASSIFIED ROADS 32% A ROADS 51% Most casualties in Somerset are the result of collisions occurring on A class roads. In 29, 51 per cent of casualties occurred on A roads, the same as in 27 and 28. Although in 29 there was a decrease of ten per cent in the number of collisions occurring on A roads when compared with 28. Casualties on unclassified roads in 29 fell by 15 per cent from the 28 figure of 74. In 28 there were 15 casualties from collisions on the Motorway. This figure rose by 22 per cent in

25 9.3 ALL CASUALTIES BY AGE GROUP Casualties in all age groups under 6 went down in UNKNOWN ALL CASUALTIES BY AGE GROUP UNKNOWN When the number of casualties in each age group was calculated as a percentage of the total number of casualties in Somerset in 29, the results were - Children (-15 years) 8% Youths (16-24 years) 3% Adults (25-59 years) 44% 6+ years 14% Unknown age 4% While there were reductions in the numbers of casualties in the child, youth and adult age groups, there was a slight increase in the number of casualties in the 6 plus age group. 23

26 9.4 ALL CASUALTIES BY DISTRICT KSI SLIGHT KSI SLIGHT KSI SLIGHT MENDIP SEDGEMOOR TAUNTON DEANE WEST SOMERSET SOUTH SOMERSET ALL CASUALTIES BY DISTRICT Four of the Somerset districts saw a fall in road casualties in 29 MENDIP SEDGEMOOR TAUNTON DEANE WEST SOMERSET SOUTH SOMERSET During the period under review, there was a decrease in the number of casualties in each of the districts year on year, with the exception of Sedgemoor, where the number of casualties rose by seven per cent in 29, although still well below the figure for

27 DISTRICT S AS PERCENTAGE OF SOMERSET AVERAGE MENDIP 19% 21% 22% 21% SEDGEMOOR 23% 2% 24% 22% TAUNTON DEANE 2% 21% 19% 2% WEST SOMERSET 8% 7% 8% 8% SOUTH SOMERSET 3% 31% 28% 3% 1% 1% 1% - PERCENTAGE OF CASUALTIES IN EACH SOMERSET DISTRICT: AVERAGE OF PERIOD SOUTH SOMERSET 29% WEST SOMERSET 8% MENDIP 21% TAUNTON DEANE 2% SEDGEMOOR 22% 25

28 9.5 OLDER DRIVERS In September 29 the Department for Transport carried out a study Collisions Involving Older Drivers. (see Appendix) A similar study of collisions involving older drivers was carried out in Somerset and produced the following results: CASUALTIES FROM COLLISIONS INVOLVING 6+ DRIVERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF CASUALTIES CASUALTIES FROM 6+ DRIVER COLLISIONS ALL CASUALTIES CASUALTIES FROM 6+ DRIVER COLLISIONS AS % OF CASUALTIES % 25% 25% CASUALTIES FROM COLLISIONS INVOLVING 6+ DRIVERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF CASUALTIES 3% 25% 2% % 1% 5% % 26

29 KSI CASUALTIES FROM COLLISIONS INVOLVING 6+ DRIVERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF KSI CASUALTIES KSI CASUALTIES FROM 6+ DRIVER COLLISIONS ALL KSI CASUALTIES KSI CASUALTIES FROM 6+ DRIVER COLLISIONS AS % OF KSI CASUALTIES % 22% 3% KSI CASUALTIES FROM COLLISIONS INVOLVING 6+ DRIVERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF KSI CASUALTIES 3% 3 25% 2% 22 15% 19 1% 5% % The number of KSI casualties involving drivers over 6 has increased This analysis shows that the number of KSI casualties that result from collisions involving drivers aged 6 or over has increased when considered as a percentage of the total KSI casualties for the year. The Special Projects Team from the Road Safety Partnership is working on an educational package which will make older drivers aware of the problems brought on by advancing age and will give advice on how standards of driving may be maintained. 27

30 APPENDIX COLLISIONS INVOLVING OLDER DRIVERS DfT: Road Safety Research Report 19: Collisions Involving Older Drivers: An In-Depth Study The report states that drivers under 7 years of age appear to be no more likely to cause a crash than to be the victim of another driver s carelessness, but that blameworthiness increased with driver age. It found that the most frequent class of crash caused by drivers over 6 years of age was right of way crashes. The most frequent failures observed involved visual search errors when turning right onto a more major road. A study by Hakamies-Blomqvist and Peters in 2 found that merging decisions at intersections showed no age difference in accuracy but the elderly needed 5 per cent more time to decide. Rabbit et al in 1996 compared driving instructors observations of older driver behaviour and found some skills to be more difficult for older people, such as vigilance, speed and distance judgements and co-ordination. A study by Clarke et al in 24 found that in motorcycle crashes looked but did not see errors appeared to affect older at fault drivers more than younger ones. Other studies found that 5 per cent of older-driver crashes occurred at intersections, compared with 21 per cent of crashes involving middle aged drivers and that there was strong over representation in crashes resulting from older drivers attempting to turn across oncoming vehicles. A review on slow post-turn decision manoeuvring concluded that older drivers sometimes tended to take more time to accelerate and complete their manoeuvre. 28

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