Safety on England's roads is not improving

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows a discrepancy between police and hospital statistics in road traffic accident rates in England.
Government targets are for a 40 per cent reduction in serious injuries and deaths on the road by 2010, compared to figures in 1994-1998. So how close is the goal to being met? Police statistics should give us an idea - that's what the Government uses. They show a drop by 2004 by almost one third. That is, from 86 per 100,000 to 59 per 100,000. But when just those killed were analyzed, the decline was much less.

When hospital figures were analyzed, there was no real change in non-fatal injuries between 1996 and 2004. There may have been an under-reporting of injuries by the police, the researchers suggest - maybe minor injuries have been discounted. But the discrepancy between police and hospital figures needs to be investigated, so we can get a clearer picture of whether the impact of road accidents on public health is improving or not.

Source
British Medical Journal online 22nd June 2006

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