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Speed 'to blame for just one in 20 road accidents'
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| Only one in 20 road accidents
is caused by drivers breaking the speed limit, the government admitted
last night. |
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| Ministers have justified the
rising number of speed cameras by insisting that speed kills. But
the first published study into the causes of road accidents has found
breaking the speed limit was a factor in only 5% of cases. Accidents
were far more likely to be caused by drivers failing to pay attention and
making mistakes or pedestrians not looking properly. |
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| Critics said the Government
research, based on official police reports, seriously damages the case for
speed cameras. The Department for Transport claimed speeding was a
factor in 15% of accidents. It did this by adding on the 10% of
accidents in which drivers were considered by police to be driving too
fast for the conditions. They were not breaking the speed limit. |
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| Speed cameras raised
£120million last year, trapping two million motorists. There are
3,300 fixed site cameras and 3,400 mobile devices. The Safe Speed
campaign group said it was clear the Government's 'entire road safety
policy has been based on dodgy data'. Founder Paul Smith said:
'Speed cameras must be scrapped. They have focused everyone on the
wrong safety factor and have proved to be a dangerous distraction'. |
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| The report, the first of its
kind, showed 147,509 accidents last year. In 5% of these, breaking
the speed limit was a factor. This rose to 12% for accidents which
ended in a fatality. In a further 10% of all accidents, the police
decided the driver was going too fast for the conditions. This was
the case in 14% of those ending in a death. |
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| More significant were
drivers, pedestrians and others failing to look properly, a factor in 32%
of accidents. Road conditions or layout factored in 15%. Total
casualties, deaths and injuries fell 3%. Separate figures showed the
number killed in accidents involving drink-driving fell by 3% last year. |
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'Sheltering behind
statistics' |
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| The figures appeared to put
the Government on course to meet its target of reducing by 40% the number
killed or seriously injured in road accidents, compared to 1994-98
averages. This target is due by 2010. |
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| It is also aiming to hit
targets on the number of children killed or seriously injured - down 11%
last year - and a cut in slight injuries. The research follows
concerns over the accuracy of the Government's figures for the number
injured or killed on the roads. |
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| The figures, compiled by
police, showed a 3% fall last year. But critics say they do not
tally with the higher toll of hospital admissions. The DfT said the
number killed or seriously injured in accidents reported to police was
already close to or below all the 1994-98 averages. But the
Independent Statistics Commission said if it based its casualty figures on
hospital statistics, the DfT would 'not be on track' to meet its targets. |
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| Tory transport spokesman
Chris Grayling said: 'The apparent contradiction between Government
figures on road deaths and injuries and the story coming out of our
hospitals is extremely worrying. The Government should start taking
proper action to deal with the problem, and stop sheltering behind
statistics about which there are very real concerns'. |
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| Yesterday's figures also
revealed 597 children were killed on journeys to and from school last year
- the equivalent of 11 every week. Of these, 471 were on foot, 56 on
bicycles and 34 were in cars. Six out of ten were boys. The
child pedestrian death rate is much higher than that of many other EU
countries. |
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| *Cyclist deaths increased by
10% last year. Even though road fatalities as a whole have fallen,
the number of cyclists killed rose from 134 to 148. The number
killed or seriously injured was up by 2% overall. Expert say the
rise is down to the number of inexperienced riders who are trying to beat
congestion, cut pollution and get fit. |
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| Comment. It is
hard to imagine how 'experts' come to such a conclusion on cyclist
fatalities. A 10% increase on a figure of 134 in well within a range
of statistical variation that you might expect even if nothing had
changed. Only when you have a continuous increase over a number of
years can you start looking for possible causes. Figures actually
show a slight drop in casualties... and a slight increase in serious
injuries... so a 10% increase in fatalities would seem to indicate a bit
of bad luck, nothing more. Extract from the report below... |
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| "Pedal cyclist
casualties fell from 16,648 in 2004 to 16,561, a drop of 1%. The
number of cyclists killed or seriously injured rose by 2% overall to
2,360, and the number of fatalities increased 10% from 134 to 148.
The overall pedal cyclist casualty rates per hundred million vehicle
kilometres have fallen by 6% compared to 2004". |
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