There’s always argument over this and frankly I’m not surprised. I found a report released last month that questioned how road accidents were being reported – and in fact suggested that there’s far more ‘carnage’ on our roads than we actually are led to believe.
The report I’m talking about was called into question by the Commons’ transport committee because serious inuries on the roads have fallen far quicker than deaths. Apparently, the way in which accidents are reported to police (serious injuries and deaths are now counted together instead of separately) hurt the accuracy of the statistics – no pun intended.
There’s also been call for a review to routinely link police and hospital figures together, to make sure that numbers aren’t being skewed for one reason or another. There’s a suggestion also that up to one fifth of accidents/casualties aren’t reported as drivers are uninsured or over the drink drive limit at the time.
However, there’s evidence to suggest that actually our roads are really rather safe. Granted, one death is perhaps too many, but with so many other things in life, there is risk involved. There are plenty of drivers out there who, for instance, have an irrational fear of driving on motorways – little realising that they are the safest roads available!
Ultimately, as long as the number of deaths keep going down, I can’t see where the legislation is going wrong – in spite of infernal speed cameras often popping up in places where they shouldn’t – and seemingly not appearing where they should.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the statistics then visit National Statistics Online.
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