Development and Property Services

Roads and Transport

ROAD SAFETY PLAN

Statistics

Introduction

This chapter sets out the road casualty trends in East Ayrshire from the 1981-85 base line years through to 1997.

Casualties by Year and Severity

There were 495 road casualties in East Ayrshire, 105 fewer than in 1981-85 representing a reduction of 18%. Despite this improvement, the total was 55 more than the target for the year, 440. In Scotland as a whole, there has been a 17% reduction in casualties over the same period.

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Table 1 summarises the severity of casualties in the base-line years and in the five most recent years. While fatal and serious casualties have fallen by 34% since 1981-85, slight injury casualties have decreased by only 10%. Nationally, there has been a 50% reduction in fatal and serious injuries with no reduction in slight injuries. Notwithstanding the overall improvement in road safety in East Ayrshire since the early 1980's, fatal and serious injuries continued to account for a high proportion (26%) of all casualties in 1997. In Scotland as a whole, the corresponding figure was 20%.

In 1997, car users accounted for 349 casualties, a rise of 7% since 1981-85. The increase in casualties reflects the rise in car ownership and traffic growth in recent years (traffic flows in Ayrshire have risen by more than 30% since 1985).

Pedestrians

There were 66 pedestrian casualties in 1997 of which 34 were child pedestrians (up to 15 years of age), representing reductions of 47% and 51% respectively since the base-line years. The 1997 figures for all pedestrians and child pedestrians are therefore lower than the targets set for the year 2000.

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Accidents involving pedestrians generally result in more serious injuries. Table 2 shows that, over the most recent three year period, there were 233 pedestrian casualties of which almost a half (42%) were killed or seriously injured. For all other road users, this ratio falls to 25%, over the same period.

Pedal Cyclists

Eleven pedal cyclists were injured in 1997. Figure 5 shows that the year 2000 target has been achieved in each of the last 5 years.                                                                                            

Motor Cyclists

This group accounted for 9 casualties during the year. There has been a marked reduction in motor cycle casualties since the early 1980's and the national target has been realised.                                                                                                             

Goods Vehicles and Public Service Vehicles           

These two groups together accounted for 45 casualties during the year. This was 12 more than in 1996 and 4 more than the target for the year, 41.

Casualties by Age Group and Mode

Pedestrians Figure 8 shows the level of pedestrian casualties, for different age ranges, between 1993 and 1997. The values are expressed as the number of casualties per year per 1000 head of population in each age range. School age children are the most vulnerable pedestrians, with the 5-11 and 12-15 age ranges exposed to risks some 7.7 and 6.7 times greater than adults in the 25-64 range. Older people are less vulnerable than children and young adults, but are at a higher risk than adults in the 25 to 64 age range.

Drivers and Riders

Figure 9 summarises the risk of injury to drivers and riders (cyclists, motor cyclists, car, bus and lorry drivers). Car drivers make up the majority of casualties in this group. Whilst all adults are vulnerable, figure 9 shows that young drivers in the 16-24 age range are more than twice as likely to be injured in an accident than 25 to 64 year olds.

Passengers

Figure 10 summarises the position with regard to passengers and shows that school age passengers are at more risk than adults in the 25-64 age range. However young adults in the 16-24 age range are the most vulnerable and are 4 times more likely to be injured than 25 to 64 year olds.

More statistics

Foreword

Executive summary

Introduction

Road casualty statistics