General information about road traffic accidents: stats and precautions

Posted on January 6th, 2012 by admin, under Driving Research and Statistics.

The multiple crash on the M5 in recent days should serve as a warning to us all of the inherent dangers of driving.  Collisions can happen to anybody at any time no matter how prepared, we can only try and legislate against catastrophe by doing our utmost to abide by safety rules and be constantly vigilant with regard to hazards.
The figures regarding road traffic accidents have showed a promising reduction of the amount of people seriously killed or injured in recent years.  Road safety groups highlight that this should not make us complacent to the dangers that are ever present.
As the government seemed to be receptive to talk of increased speed limits, the M5 tragedy has highlighted the fact that safety should always be the number one priority and we shouldn’t jump into believing that increased speed limits will make our roads safer by way of decreasing congestion or the like.
The Department for Transport collate statistics regarding RTAs and their results are heartening yet staggeringly brutal.  A tragic 24,517 people were reported killed or seriously injured in 2010, 9% less than the 2009 figure.  Despite the drop in total, this is still a staggering figure that highlights the ever present threat of tragedy.
The number of people killed fell by 16% over the years 2009 to 2010 which seems a significant drop.  This could be due to huge advances in road safety technologies and it’s the lowest figure since records began in 1926.  This should not encourage complacency.
The statistics also show that deaths through drink driving are decreasing year on year.  This is probably due to increased awareness, social stigmas, and effective advertising campaigns.  Between 2008 and 2009 total drink related casualties fell by 8%.
Driving is inherently dangerous and we are all constantly exposed to its risks so must make a concerted effort to stay vigilant. If you are however involved in a road traffic accident and you weren’t at blame, you can seek expert advice from lawyers on how to make road traffic accident claims.