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http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/reported-road-casualties-gb-main-results-2011/


Disappointing that the headline number has shown a slight increase, although it's still 14% below 2009 and 40% below 2006.

No doubt the likes of BRAKE will be seizing upon this news as justification for installing more speedcams and stupid limits

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Interesting to see that although the casualty rate dropped, the death rate rose. Could this mean that accidents are happening at higher speeds....maybe more people driving at the limit now, instead of adapting their speed to what is a safe speed...maybe too many sheep driving safely by matching two numbers...one on the speedo and one on the side of the road...after all...it's only speeding that kills....

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Certainly for a prolonged recession it seems unusual to see the rise occur but there was a period where we had 'officially' climbed, so maybe that has some significance. I do expect figures to climb as we exit the recession as this drop has been driven by the recession - as we all travel less far, less often, and are so exposed to less danger (overall you understand).
It might just be a series of unusual deaths - the M5 major accident might a s small unusual contribution to the figures ...
There had been a large increase of pedestrian deaths too in last years figures so that too might be adding to the drop.
Needs more study.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Pedestrian deaths up 12% in 2011....what's happening with these pedestrians? Too much cotton wool deadening their sense of survival perhaps?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

From my observations, if it were not for anticipation by drivers ,this figure might well be higher . Pedestrianus textus is a good example. As is Ped on mobile, brain in neutral , eyes seeing only the words in earpiece.It's like the words of the old song about cigarettes "A man is a monkey with one in his face" - replace ciggies with mobile ,and we get the same effect .
Or is it those who just like to play poker with cars, hoping that a driver will not call their bluff for fear of an expensive claim ? Or perhaps ,it's time to have speed limits for pedestrians. Well ,it's a well known fact that speed kills, so slow them down and accident rate will drop

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Cameras switched off. Deaths go up. Speed enforcement reduced noticeably. Recession is still biting. Not all the deaths can be due to mechanical failure/failure to maintain vehicles can they? How much did the very cold winter contribute?

Main change is actually in speed enforcement so perhaps the benefit is people are just a bit more careful than when they think they can get away with things? Is there any evidence to suggest to prove the reverse and it is just random noise? Have average speeds on roads increased?

Has the average age of vehicles on the road increased? Or average safety rating reduced? Is there a group that is suddenly showing many more accidents eg reps working longer hours.

I've always been wary of the KSI figure as the serious injury definition can be fiddled with.

FIDDLED- there's been a large group of composers(AKA SCP)orchestrating the violin section ( AKA the fiddle) . .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I hardly think that an increase of 2.8% in the headline fatalities figure, against a background of substantial falls in the preceding years, can be regarded as statistically significant.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed