Motorcycle casualties fall in 2009
Added on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Motorcycle casualties fall in 2009
New government statistics have revealed that the number of motorcycle related accidents has called in the last year, despite an increase in the number of miles travelled by bikers.
Department for Transport figures show that motorcycle traffic rose by 2% in 2009 but the number of motorcycle casualties was 4% lower than in 2008. The number reported as seriously injured fell by 4% to 5,350 and there were 472 motorcycle user fatalities in 2009, which was also 4% lower than during 2008.
The figures follow the ongoing trend since around 2002, when the link was broken between the year on year number of motorcycles in use compared to the number of casualties per annum.
Overall, the number of people killed in road accidents in the UK fell by 12% from 2,538 in 2008 to 2,222 in 2009. In accidents reported to the police, 26,096 people were killed or seriously injured in 2009, 6%fewer than in 2008. There were just over 222,000 road casualties in Great Britain in 2009, 4% less than in 2008.
The figures were welcomed by the Motorcycle Industry Association, who said that the figures were reflected in the steps that the industry was making to make biking safer.
“Although there is still a strong concern about the number of motorcycle casualties, the fact remains that year after year motorcycling continues to get safer in terms of the likelihood of having an accident,” said Steve Kenward, CEO of the MCI.
“The reported fall in motorcycle fatalities during 2009 is welcome, but we cannot be complacent about this. There are simply far too many people dying in accidents and we still have much more work to do.
“The MCI and the rest of the motorcycle community will continue to work hard to improve safety and ensure that we get full Government support for a more rounded approach to road-user safety.
“The full integration of motorcycles into mainstream transport policy and local transport plans, which the Government is now backing, can only help maintain and improve on this reduction in casualties and needs to be a key priority along with improvements to rider training delivery and participation.”
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) claimed that the reductions were the result of an increased focus on road safety and warned that public spending cuts in the road network could undo the good work of recent years.
Road safety charity BRAKE however accused the DfT of using “flawed methodology” in order to meet road safety targets.
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