Road traffic collisions and safety (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)
Those at risk
Motor vehicle traffic accidents are a major cause of preventable deaths and morbidity, particularly in younger age groups. For children and for men aged 20 - 64 years, mortality rates for motor vehicle traffic accidents are higher in lower socioeconomic groups.
The vast majority of road traffic collisions are preventable and can be avoided through improved education, awareness, road infrastructure and vehicle safety. Parents cite vehicle speed and volume as reasons why they do not allow their children to walk or cycle, thereby reducing opportunities for physical activity.
The main risk factors for road traffic injuries
Factors influencing exposure to risk
- Economic factors such as level of economic development and social deprivation
- Demographic factors such as age and sex
- Land-use planning practices which influence length of trip and mode of travel
- Mixture of high-speed motorized traffic with vulnerable road users
- Insufficient attention to integration of road function with decisions about speed limits, road layout and design
Risk factors influencing crash involvement
- Inappropriate and excessive speed
- Presence of alcohol, medicinal or recreational drugs
- Fatigue
- Being a young male
- Having youths driving in the same car
- Being a vulnerable road user in urban and residential areas
- Travelling in darkness
- Vehicle factors - such as braking, handling and maintenance;
- Defects in road design, layout and maintenance, which can also lead to unsafe behaviour by road users
- Inadequate visibility because of environmental factors (making it hard to detect vehicles and other road users)
- Poor eyesight of road users
Risk factors influencing crash severity
- Human tolerance factors
- Inappropriate or excessive speed
- Seat-belts and child restraints not used
- Crash-helmets not worn by users of two-wheeled vehicles
- Roadside objects not crash-protective
- Insufficient vehicle crash protection for occupants and for those hit by vehicles
- Presence of alcohol and other drugs
Risk factors influencing post-crash outcome of injuries
- Delay in detecting crash and in transport of those injured to a health facility
- Presence of fire resulting from collision
- Leakage of hazardous materials
- Presence of alcohol and other drugs
- Difficulty in rescuing and extracting people from vehicles
- Difficulty in evacuating people from buses and coaches involved in crash
- Lack of appropriate pre-hospital care
- Lack of appropriate care in hospital emergency rooms
Risk to future provision
Road safety cannot be immune to continuing financial pressures; however there are many reasons to protect road safety spending, as much as possible. As the lead delivery agent of road safety activity, Local Government needs to protect this spend. It is an ethically, socially and economically sound policy area that will deliver real cost savings, and improves peoples' lives.
It is essential to ensure that road safety funding is used effectively and provides value for money, which can be achieved by ensuring that road safety programmes are:
- Informed by local data and evidence, and prioritise high risk groups and areas
- Based on a Safe System Approach
- Planned and delivered in partnership with other agencies, and consultation with local people
- Evaluated to assess effectiveness and identify improvements