Casualty Reduction
In this section you will find information on targets and performance relating to reducing the number of casualties on our roads.
- Current Performance Aim
- 2010 Casualty Reduction Targets
- Collision and Casualty Statistics
The Government's Strategic Framework for Road Safety focuses on reducing killed and seriously injured casualties on Britain's roads through increased driver education. In support of this, drivers in the West Midlands may be offered a Speed Awareness Course or Driver Alertness Course as an alternative to prosecution.
The Department for Transport have identified six key indicators which relate to road deaths and will measure the key outcomes of the strategy at a national level. These are:
- Number of road deaths (and rate per billion vehicle miles)
- Rate of motorcyclist deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rate of car occupant deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rate of pedal cyclist deaths per billion vehicle miles
- Rare of pedestrian deaths per billion miles walked
- Number of deaths resulting from collisions involving drivers under 25
At the local level, the number of road deaths is small and subject to fluctuation. For this reason it is suggested that local road safety partnerships focus on reducing the number of killed or seriously injured casualties. In line with this, the West Midlands Local Transport Plan 3 sets a performance aim to:
"Reduce annual Killed and Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties by 17.3% between the baseline 2005–09 average and the 2011–15 average."
2010 Casualty Reduction Targets
The Department for Transport's Road Safety Strategy for 2001–2010 set out national targets for reduction of casualties in road traffic collisions by 2010, compared to the average for 1994–98. These targets are summarised below:
| Target | Baseline | Required | Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents | 2,093 | 1,256 (40%) | 924 (56%) |
| 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured | 415 | 207 (50%) | 173 (58%) |
| 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres1 | 10,484 | 9,435 (10%) |
7,777 (26%) |
1. The number of slight casualties given here is a total and not expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.
In addition to the national targets, the highways authorities of the West Midlands set further targets to achieve by 2010. These are summarised below:
| Target | Baseline | Required | Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents from 2004 to 2010 | 1,149 | 804 (30%) | 924 (20%) |
| 35% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured between the 2002–2004 average and the 2008–2010 average | 216 | 140 (35%) | 173 (13%) |
| 10% reduction in slight casualties from 2004 to 2010 | 10,665 | 9,599 (10%) |
7,777 (27%) |
Collision and Casualty Statistics
| West Midlands Collision and Casualty Statistics | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Collisions | Casualties | |||||||
| Fatal | Serious | Slight | Total | Fatal | Serious | Slight | Total | Child KSIs | |
| 1994 | 112 | 1,820 | 7,279 | 9,211 | 118 | 2,120 | 9,905 | 12,143 | 443 |
| 1995 | 88 | 1,726 | 7,129 | 8,943 | 92 | 1,969 | 9,925 | 11,986 | 429 |
| 1996 | 102 | 1,659 | 7,442 | 9,203 | 105 | 1,934 | 10,327 | 12,366 | 419 |
| 1997 | 110 | 1,699 | 7,978 | 9,787 | 111 | 1,954 | 11,109 | 13,174 | 398 |
| 1998 | 93 | 1,682 | 7,992 | 9,767 | 96 | 1,966 | 11,152 | 13,214 | 384 |
| 1999 | 78 | 1,439 | 8,461 | 9,978 | 89 | 1,664 | 11,806 | 13,559 | 368 |
| 2000 | 71 | 1,345 | 9,224 | 10,640 | 74 | 1,519 | 12,733 | 14,326 | 285 |
| 2001 | 82 | 1,171 | 9,209 | 10,462 | 90 | 1,345 | 12,469 | 13,904 | 274 |
| 2002 | 77 | 1,073 | 9,047 | 10,197 | 81 | 1,223 | 12,239 | 13,543 | 255 |
| 2003 | 94 | 1,028 | 8,433 | 9,555 | 96 | 1,135 | 11,356 | 12,587 | 195 |
| 2004 | 77 | 967 | 7,869 | 8,913 | 82 | 1,067 | 10,665 | 11,814 | 198 |
| 2005 | 82 | 920 | 8,068 | 9,070 | 87 | 1,044 | 11,082 | 12,213 | 209 |
| 2006 | 92 | 914 | 7,495 | 8,501 | 102 | 1,040 | 10,445 | 11,587 | 189 |
| 2007 | 67 | 955 | 7,524 | 8,546 | 73 | 1,110 | 10,460 | 11,643 | 206 |
| 2008 | 56 | 856 | 6,951 | 7,863 | 59 | 969 | 9,763 | 10,791 | 192 |
| 2009 | 65 | 846 | 6,382 | 7,293 | 73 | 926 | 9,100 | 10,099 | 165 |
| 2010 | 50 | 789 | 5,377 | 6,216 | 51 | 873 | 7,777 | 8,701 | 173 |
| 2011 | 53 | 865 | 4,447 | 5,365 | 61 | 957 | 6,475 | 7,493 | 174 |
More information on the number, types and locations of collisions and casualties in the West Midlands can be found on our interactive collision map or in the annual West Midlands Road Accident Review.
