News

The latest traffic figures from the Department for Transport, covering 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, show that traffic in the UK increased by 1.2% to 127.6bn vehicle kilometres. Car traffic followed the trend, growing by 1%, while vans were well ahead of the pack, growing 4% to 17.3bn vehicle kilometres. This followed a similar rise in van traffic from 2005 to 2006.

Things were less buoyant further up the weight scale because goods vehicle traffic as a whole fell by 2% to 7.3bn vehicle  kilometres. The DfT figures show that cars still dominate the road, accounting for nearly 80% of all traffic. They are followed by light vans, goods vehicles and other motor vehicles (such as motor cycles) in that order.

There is good news for road safety: overall casualties (deaths and injuries) fell 5% last year deaths and serious injuries were down by 2%. Car, motorcycle and pedestrian casualties showed a reduction of 4%, 7% and 7% respectively, while the number killed or seriously injured in these categories fell by 3%, 2% and 2% respectively.

Child casualties fell by 9% juvenile deaths and serious injuries were down by 6%. The government published a road safety strategy in 2000, aiming for a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 2010, with a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate and a 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured, compared with the average for 1994-98.

The 2006 figures  show that excellent progress is being made towards these targets - the number of people killed or seriously injured was 34% below the baseline, the slight casualty rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres was 26% below the baseline and the number of children killed or seriously injured was 53% below the baseline. While much of this improvement is down to the public's greater awareness of road safety, ever-improving vehicle safety features are making a growing contribution to road safety.