Road Safety
Great Britain has one of the best road safety records in Europe and the world. Despite massive increases in traffic over the last few decades, the number of people killed on our roads has fallen from around 5,500 per year in the mid 1980s to well under 2,000 in 2010. However, this still means that around 5 people die on Britain’s roads every day.
Road Casualties in Great Britain, 2010
| Killed |
1,850 |
| Seriously Injured |
22,660 |
| Slightly Injured |
184,138 |
| All |
208,648 |
Common causes of these unnecessary tragedies, every year, include:
Speeding
Over 430 people are killed in crashes in which someone exceeds the speed limit or drives too fast for the conditions.
Drink Driving
Around 250 people die in crashes in which someone was over the legal drink drive limit.
Seat Belt Wearing
Around 300 lives could be saved if everyone always wore their seat belt.
Careless Driving
More than 300 deaths involve someone being "careless, reckless or in a hurry", and a further 125 involve "aggressive driving".
At-work
Around one third of fatal and serious road crashes involve someone who was at work.
Inexperience
More than 430 people are killed in crashes involving young car drivers aged 17 to 24 years, including over 150 young drivers, 90 passengers and more than 180 other road users.
Road safety is one of the most important areas of RoSPA’s work. As almost all road crashes involve human error, ranging from simple mistakes to deliberate dangerous and illegal behaviour, our key issue is the need to improve the standard of driving and riding. RoSPA supports a twin-track approach of making it as easy as possible to use the roads safely and responsibly and voluntarily and willingly comply with road traffic law, and of increasing the likelihood of catching, and the punishment for, those who choose not to do so.
RoSPA:
- Raises awareness and provides advice, help, training and information for all road users
- Provides road safety education resources and guidance
- Provides advice and guidance, practical products and services to help employers manage their occupational road risk
- Supports the work of other professionals and practitioners in road safety
- Supports the development and implementation of national road safety strategies
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