Road Traffic Accidents - The Real Truth
Road deaths and injuries - cause for concern
There are more people killed in road accidents than through any other cause, except old age or illness. This trend is likely to continue and could get even worse as the number of cars on the road grows
Every single year, over 3,000 people are killed and 260,000 are injured on UK roads. The Police refer to the figure of "KSI's", which refers to the numbers Killed or Seriously Injured
A serving Police Traffic Sergeant in West Yorkshire recently told Weelz
"The numbers of KSI's are increasing year on year. We don't even refer to accidents as 'accidents' anymore . . . the new guidlines are to refer to them as 'collisions'
The word 'accident' tends to give people a comfort zone that the circumstances in which someone died were totally unavoidable
This is quite blatantly wrong. Someone is always to blame, and there are almost no fatal collisions due to unavoidable circumstances or mechanical failure"
Historically the two major contributing factors to death and collisions on our roads were drink driving and not wearing seat belts. Changes to the Road Transport Act made new offences and attracted more sever penalties for those who drove dangerously, and the result was a reduction in road deaths
Despite the figures, the UK has one of the best road safety records in Europe. Almost three times as many people are killed in Spain. The figures for other European countries are even worse
Particularly alarming though is the number of child pedestrians killed by motorists. The UK has an incredibly high number of child deaths, far higher than Spain, Belgium France or Denmark
The Government recognise the growing need for education in our schools and youth centres
"kids need to be taught road safety from a young age . . . just a few hours is not enough, they need to have a long running and constant program of training and education"
Vehicle manufacturers bring in new devices and safety measures at an alarming rate, but that in itself causes many of the problems
A Police spokesman commented
"Car manufacturers brough out ABS, and almost every driver thought that they could drive even faster and just let 'the system' take care of everything . . . now we have devices that sound a warning if they drive too close to a car in front. Is this not an open invitation for the driver to fall asleep?
The way that such improvements in design are marketed and perceived by drivers does little for road safety . . . in fact, they could be contributing to the death and misery on our roads because drivers just see them as something to keep themselves safe, rather than for the safety of everyone
ABS, traction control and more engine power means they can drive faster than ever, but it doesn't tell the when a young boy or girl is going to step out from behind that parked car
The only real way to improve safety is to change attitudes . . . and that's the hardest part"
Have you been involved in a collision? Do you have anything you'd like to say about road safety in the UK?
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Had one accident, then had another
About a year ago I was driving in Sheffield and I was hit by a car. I stopped at a junction and the other car just drove straight into the back of me. I was off the road for about 2 weeks, and when I got my car sorted and got back on the road I only had to wait a couple of weeks for the same thing to happen again at a different junction! In both cases it was a female driver with kids in the car. Both of the drivers said that they were really distracted because the kids were playing up. I think that we can put all sorts of safety stuff on cars, but if people don't pay attention it just won't do any good
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