UK Government Admits Traffic Wrong Accident Figures
UK Department for Transport reports threefold undercount of road accidents during the speed camera era.
For the past several years, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has heralded the drop in the number of serious traffic accidents as evidence of the success of its speed camera policies. For the first time, the agency admitted last Thursday that injury numbers have dropped because its statistical method is incomplete. Although DfT reported 230,905 injury accidents took place in 2008, the agency now believes the true number of accidents is actually three times greater.
"Our best current estimate, derived from survey data with cross-checking against other data sources, is that the total number of road casualties in Great Britain each year, including those not reported to police, is within the range 680 thousand to 920 thousand with a central estimate of 800 thousand," Matthew Tranter with DfT's Road Safety Research and Statistics wrote. Read the full story...
In July, the UK Statistics Authority ordered DfT to reform its procedures in light of evidence that the department's data showed far fewer injuries than reported from hospital admission records. The government has placed an emphasis on showing reductions in accidents and injuries as evidence that its road safety strategies have been successful.
"These statistics are used to inform public debate and support policy on road safety," the DfT annual report on road accidents explained.
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) was first to show that, contrary to DfT's former assertion, injury accidents were not decreasing (view 2006 BMJ study). DfT claimed road injury rate fell from 85.9 per 100,000 in 1996 (before cameras) to 59.4 in 2004 (after cameras), but hospital admission records showed that the road injury rate actually increased slightly from 90.0 in 1996 to 91.1 in 2004. The DfT's report last week included a chart showing the discrepancy between hospital records (HES) and the DfT's STATS19 data began in 1997 (view full chart, page 64).
"There is, however, some evidence that the proportion of casualties admitted to hospital and known to police that were misclassified by the police as slightly injured increased marginally between 1999 and 2004," the DfT report stated (page 67).
The governmental focus on using automated enforcement also relies on an exclusive focus on "speeding" as the primary cause of road accidents. The DfT data show that, in fact, exceeding the posted speed limit -- the only factor that can be measured by a speed camera -- rarely causes accidents.
"Exceeding speed limit was attributed to 3 per cent of cars involved in accidents, while traveling too fast for conditions was attributed to 5 per cent," the report stated (page 46). "For fatal accidents these figures are both 8 per cent."
The report admits that traffic calming devices designed to force motorists to reduce their speed in some cases caused accidents. Speed bumps and chicanes killed six motorists and caused 176 accidents, according to DfT figures (page 44).
A full copy of the DfT report is available in a 5mb PDF file at the source link below.
UK Road Fatalities and Injuries Rise Despite Cameras The UK speed camera enforcement policy has failed to reduce either road injuries or road fatalities.
UK Department for Transport statistics released today show that the number of fatalities on British roads has not dropped significantly, despite a record number of ticketing cameras used to enforce speed limits. The latest available figures show 3201 road deaths occurred in the UK in 2005 compared to 3221 in 2004 -- a difference of just 0.7%.
Non-fatal road injuries, despite the claims of police, have also risen according to a British Medical Journal (BMJ) study published last week. The BMJ researchers examined the police claim that the road injury rate had fallen from 85.9 per 100,000 in 1996 to 59.4 in 2004 and found that it did not ring true. By examining hospital records, the study found the road injury rate increased slightly from 90.0 in 1996 to 91.1 in 2004. The study attributes the discrepancy to "under-reporting" on the part of the police.
"The overall fall seen in police statistics for non-fatal road traffic injuries probably represents a fall in completeness of reporting of these injuries," the BMJ study concluded. View this study in a 79k PDF file.
"The change in fatalities is the acid test of any change in road safety," said road safety expert Paul Smith of Safe Speed. "Fatalities haven't fallen so the roads have not got safer. DfT road safety policy has failed to save lives. Speed cameras have failed to save lives. Speed limit reductions have failed to save lives."
"These figures show that we need to completely change the way we think about road safety," said Mark McArthur-Christie, policy spokesman for the Association of British Drivers. "It simply cannot be imposed from the outside with humps, bumps, cameras and lower limits."
The full Department for Transport fatality statistics are available in a 365k PDF file below.
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What on earth is wrong with Victorians allowing a State Government to do what they are doing to the general population? A small Australian state with 5 million residents, where 2.86 million warrants and Court orders exist for unpaid speed camera fines and tollway fines. Are Victorians so distracted with football that there civil liberties no longer matter? WAKE-UP!!!
The down side of nabbing the majority of drivers with a speeding fine is the inevitable rise in disqualified drivers and a steady rise in the road toll.
Concern has been raised by both supporters and opponents of speed cameras that the exponential growth in speeding offences detected will lead to a large increase in the number of people disqualified from driving, which causes severe economic consequences for those involved and may also encourage unlicensed (and therefore uninsured) driving.
Come to Victoria - The Speed Camera Mugging State of Australia. "If you come to our state with a drivers licence, we'll make sure you leave without one."
Do Speed Cameras save lives? Statistics from around the world and Australia suggest not! Why? Because speed cameras target the vast majority of law abiding citizens who travel a few kms over the speed limit, not the true causes of road fatalities! Speed Cameras are "fools gold" for governments looking for a quick fix solution to road deaths, but prove a bonanza for cash strapped governments looking to reduce police manpower and raise revenue. Add to this mix speed detection technology that is inaccurate, low speed tolerance limits and a court system that is blind to these problems and you have a recipe for disaster.
Road Patrol Cops Replaced by Cameras
Why do you think speed cameras are so appealing to governments? Simple, speed cameras are cheaper to run than real police. Speed cameras don't ask for pay rises or let off drivers with a warning - Real cops do! It's based on a false economy to save money and raise revenue. What the community gets is a rise in road deaths and a bunch of young road hoons running the streets like a scene out of the movie "Mad Max" Don't believe it? I live in Western Australia where the Police Traffic Branch was amalgamated with the local suburban police stations. So who looks after the streets now? Basically, its a free for all.
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The Editor of The Observer wrote :
If safety were the concern, police cars would prowl our roads, booking people for real speeding, out of sight of cameras, tailgating, road rage, lane weaving and all the unsafe practices which have gone unpunished since cameras became a cheap substitute for a highway patrol
NSW - Almost 90 per cent of speeding fines were for travelling less than 15kmh over the speed limit, which costs three demerit points, or four in school zones. Thus 542,290 fines delivered $50 million into state coffers for such infractions as driving 66kmh in a 60-zone.
For the past several years, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has heralded the drop in the number of serious traffic accidents as evidence of the success of its speed camera policies. For the first time, the agency admitted last Thursday that injury numbers have dropped because its statistical method is incomplete. Although DfT reported 230,905 injury accidents took place in 2008, the agency now believes the true number of accidents is actually three times greater.
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