AA Reports Latest Road Casualty Figures

Posted by admin

September 26, 2008

A recent report by AA car insurance said that one third of fatal road accidents last year were caused by loss of vehicle control and temperament, asking drivers to pay more attention to the road.

For example, crashes among young drivers, in particular males, could mostly be attributed to driving speeds and behaviour behind the wheel. However, overall deaths on the road fell to its lowest levels since records began (1928) and the majority of causes were related to driver error.

The question arises, are these errors simple mistakes or deliberate risks taken by foolhardy drivers?

Another major factor in road deaths can be linked to drink and drugs whilst operating a vehicle. The AA reports deaths from driving over the legal alcohol limit dropped last year to 460, which was an 18 per cent improvement compared to 560 deaths in 2006.

Whilst government figures from drug induced road fatalities were relatively low at 64 in 2007 and 51 in 2006, outside evidence such as surveys and views from the police suggest driving under the influence of drugs is as big a problem as drink driving.

The AA president Edmund King had this to say,

“Drivers and indeed many police officers indicate to us that drug driving is a major problem but the severity of the problem is not reflected in the official figures. We must question whether the true extent of the drug/driving problem is being picked up. It is far easier for an accident to be attributed to drink as alcohol is easy to detect through smell and indeed breathalyser technology. We would welcome a fuller investigation into the true extent of drug driving.”

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