Road KSIs down – despite higher traffic levels

Recent statistics published by the Department for Transport (DfT) show a reduction in the number of road deaths and killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties – despite an increase in traffic levels.

The DfT’s quarterly provisional statistics show the number of road deaths fell between April and June 2015 compared to the corresponding period in 2014, and in the 12-months to June 2015.

In the three-month period, 400 people were killed in reported road accidents, a 7% decrease from the 428 deaths in the same quarter of 2014.

There was also a decline in the number of KSI casualties – a total of 5,540, down 11% from the same period in 2014 (6,233). Casualties of all severities fell by 12% to 42,320 while motor traffic levels increased by 2.9% over the same period.

The statistics also show a similar trend for the year ending June 2015. There were 1,700 road deaths (down 2%), a total of 22,830 KSIs (down 7%) and 580 child KSIs (down 8%) while motor traffic levels rose by 2.3%.

Locally, there were 166 KSI casualties in the SERP area between April and June 2015. This represents a 6.2% reduction compared with the same period in 2014, and an 11.1% reduction on the quarterly average for the 12 months to April 2015. However, within the KSI figures there were 11 fatalities between April and June 2015, up from seven for the same quarter the previous year.

The DfT is also predicting that it is likely there will be a year-on-year fall in road casualties in 2015 when final data is published in June 2016.

11 November 2015