North East Region Casualty Report

The North East Regional Road Safety Resource that provides overview figures and high-level analysis of the North East’s casualty make-up, has published its main results for 2011.  The report has been produced in a similar format to the Department for Transport’s recent report on the national casualty statistics in 2011, and contains some brief comparisons between the North East’s and Great Britain’s performance in reducing road user casualties between 2010 and 2011.

In addition to the North East overview, there is included a one page breakdown of the casualty statistics for each local authority area detailing the casualty figures for the 2005-09 baseline average, yearly data from 2007 to 2011, and comparing the baseline and 2010 to 2011’s figures.

The key findings from this Regional Main Results 2011 report include:

•  The total number of road user casualties reported to the police in the North East has fallen by 4% from 8,405 in 2010 to 8,033 in 2011. Nationally there was a drop of 2% on 2010’s rates.
• The number of people reported by the police as being killed or seriously injured (KSI) has also fallen since 2010, with a reduction of 1% from 860 in 2010 to 854 in 2011. This is again a greater decrease than at the national level where KSI casualties rose by 2%.
• The number of people killed in road traffic collisions has increased by 14% from 51 in 2010 to 58 in 2011, the first increase in fatalities since 2006. This is a greater increase than at the national level, which rose by 3% over the same period.
• Total reported child casualties (ages 0-15) increased by 1% from 2010’s figure of 888 to 893 in 2011. However, the number of children who were killed or seriously injured reduced from 133 in 2010 to 122 in 2011 (a fall of 8%). Nationally, there was a 0.5% fall in total child casualties and a 4% reduction in child KSIs.
• Estimated motor vehicle traffic levels increased slightly for the first time since 2007. The overall casualty rate for collisions reported to the police per billion vehicle miles fell by 5% from 743 to 706. Nationally there was a fall of 2% over the same period, with national rates falling from 681 to 666 casualties per billion vehicle miles.
• In summary therefore there were a number of improvements from 2010 to 2011 in the North East, especially when comparing the region against the situation in the country as a whole; however there were also increases in fatalities and child casualties in the same period.

To download a copy of the report click on this link, or contact Peter Slater Phone:  0191 433 3165   E-Mail:  peterslater@gateshead.gov.uk