UK road deaths reach record low

[Jake]

The number of casualties among cyclists also rose 1%, although there were 15% fewer deaths at 115.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8118341.stm

 

[John the Monkey]

IIRC, drivers kill each other rather less than they used to. ("Safer" cars, road engineering &c)

Drivers kill non drivers (pedestrians, cyclists) rather more.

 

[very-near]

Another road death to add to the stats http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8116113.stm

 

[summerdays]

I saw a report on TV saying how they had made cars safer and now they needed to make the roads safer too. But I just thought if you take away another danger they will simply go faster as it is now "safer" (for THEM).

 

[very-near]

I saw a report on TV saying how they had made cars safer and now they needed to make the roads safer too. But I just thought if you take away another danger they will simply go faster as it is now "safer" (for THEM).

Making road safer means improving barrier design so they don't go through the side of the car when they connect, and also removing warning sign posts from the outside edge of corners so vehicles running off the corners have a fighting chance.

 

[Jake]

They could start by filling in the millions of holes and cracks between brixton and angel! The ammount of times you have to swerve to avoid them and nearly get hit by a motorbike racing down the inside of traffic or bus lane. i'm sure, rightly or wrongly, that bike helemts will become law.

 

[upsidedown]

2538 people killed in 1 year on a tiny island like Britain, that is shocking.

That's like having 42 coach crashes where all of the passengers were killed. If it happened like that somebody would take notice and do something.

It would be intersting to see how many of those were attributed to excessive speed.

 

[summerdays]

Making road safer means improving barrier design so they don't go through the side of the car when they connect, and also removing warning sign posts from the outside edge of corners so vehicles running off the corners have a fighting chance.

I don't think it helped that the road they were using for the report was one which has lots of motorcycle accidents on .... I'm not saying road improvements aren't worth it... just that it seems to be all about improving the car occupants safety rather than thinking about the other road users too.

 

[hackbike 666]

They are never going to be able to fix all the potholes though are they?

Not unless they get heavy vehicles off of the roads.

 

[very-near]

2538 people killed in 1 year on a tiny island like Britain, that is shocking.

That's like having 42 coach crashes where all of the passengers were killed. If it happened like that somebody would take notice and do something.

It would be intersting to see how many of those were attributed to excessive speed.

I'd say that these stats are fairly good given the billions of miles covered each year by the volume and types of vehicles.

Do you mean inappropriate speed or breaking the limit as these are not the same thing.

 

[J4CKO]

That number of deaths is tragic, as is the number of injuries but to be honest I am suprised its not more, millions of idiots moving round at high speed is never going to end well.

 

[very-near]

I don't think it helped that the road they were using for the report was one which has lots of motorcycle accidents on .... I'm not saying road improvements aren't worth it... just that it seems to be all about improving the car occupants safety rather than thinking about the other road users too.

Reducing road furniture or moving it to a safer palce is a step in the right direction and motorcyclists are very vulnerable on the outside of corners where they seem to site the warning sign posts.

 

[John the Monkey]

I saw a report on TV saying how they had made cars safer and now they needed to make the roads safer too. But I just thought if you take away another danger they will simply go faster as it is now "safer" (for THEM).

At least partly true.

Tom Vanderbilt writes a lot about road engineering and how it affects drivers perceptions of "safe" driving.

His blog is here, and is a good read.

 

[fossyant]

Sorry guys/gals....I was one of the 1% increase

 

[summerdays]

Reducing road furniture or moving it to a safer palce is a step in the right direction and motorcyclists are very vulnerable on the outside of corners where they seem to site the warning sign posts.

I think on the road in question the best thing motorcyclists could do would be to stick to the speed limits and not race each other... improvements such as moving posts deal with the consequences of their actions in many occasions on that road.