Bike fatalities drop in 2008
Added on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Bike fatalities drop in 2008
The number of people killed in motorcycle accidents on Britain’s roads in fell 16% in 2008, according to statistics released today by the Department for Transport.
The number of motorcycle accident fatalities in Great Britain during 2008 fell to 493 when compared to 588 deaths in 2007, a 16% reduction although still higher that the official government target to cut motorcycle related deaths to 467 by 2010.
The total number of motorcyclists either killed or seriously injured also saw a significant reduction, falling 10% from 6,737 in 2007 to 6,084 last year although the figure remains higher than the 5,885 deaths or serious injuries in 2006. The number of motorcycle related casualties overall in 2008 fell by 8% to 221,549.
The drop in motorcycle related deaths and injuries was in line with a general reduction in casualties, with 14% fewer road deaths. A total of 2,538 were killed on Britain’s roads in 2008 compared with 2,946 in 2007
A total of 28,567 people were killed or seriously injured in 2008, 7% fewer than in 2007 and there were just under 231,000 road casualties in Great Britain in 2008, also representing a 7% drop.
The figure of 124 child fatalities represented an increase of three on 2007 although that figure represented a record low.
The figures were welcomed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, who highlighted the improvements in the safety of more vulnerable road users.
“Last year saw the lowest number of road deaths since records began,” said RoSPA Head of Safety Kevin Clinton. “This new record low shows that the fall in road deaths is a trend, not a statistical blip.
“Every reduction in these numbers represents a person who has not been killed or injured and a family which has not suffered the devastation caused by a road accident.
“It is particularly pleasing to see improvements in the safety of vulnerable road users.
“However, it is unacceptable that more children died on the road in 2008 than in 2007. Even though the numbers have fallen significantly over the last 10 years, we need to understand why the latest figures are so bad for child deaths and get back on track to reducing them again.
“Each and every one of us should think about the safety of children and how our personal actions, especially when driving, affect the wellbeing of our most vulnerable road users. We must all play our part in making sure that the number of children killed and injured on the roads this year is much lower than the figures revealed today.”
Figures at a glance:
| Overall | Fatalities - 2,538 - down 14% |
| Fatalities & Serious Injury - 28,567 - down 7% | |
| Casualties - approx 231,000 - down 7% | |
| Motorcycle | Fatalities - 493 - down 16% |
| Fatalities & Serious Injury - 6,048 - down 10% | |
| Casualties - 21,549 - down 8% | |
| Car
(estimated 1% drop in car and taxi traffic over same period) |
Fatalities - 1,257 - down 12% |
| Fatalities & Serious Injury - 10,707 - down 7% | |
| Casualties - approx 149,167 - down 8% | |
| Pedestrian | Fatalities - 572 - down 11% |
| Fatalities & Serious Injury - 6,642 - down 6% | |
| Casualties - approx 28,481 - down 6% | |
| Cyclist | Fatalities - 115 - down 15% |
| Fatalities & Serious Injury - 2,450 - up 1% | |
| Casualties - approx 16,297 - up 1% |
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