Road Deaths At Record Low

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Thu 25 Jun 2009 21:43
Road Deaths At Record Low - Robin Reliant
According to a report in "The Other Paper", road deaths last year were recorded as 2,538, the lowest number since records began in 1926. When you consider how traffic levels have multiplied since then it is a tribute to modern car engineering, allowing occupants to walk away from accidents that would have been fatal even a couple of decades ago.

It's a pity there are no comparitive figures for accidents per miles travelled, as there is no way of telling whether we have become safer drivers ourselves or whether it is all down to technology.

Oops - covered in the A roads thread.

Edited by Robin Reliant on 25/06/2009 at 21:45

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Thu 25 Jun 2009 21:57
Road Deaths At Record Low - zookeeper
they can massage the figures all they like, i suppose they have taken into consideration all the traffic thats crawling for most of the time , there are statistics and there are statistics ..etc etc
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Thu 25 Jun 2009 22:10
Road Deaths At Record Low - Rattle
It is due to a lot of things, the increase in cameras, the increase in car technology etc.

I am sure people do drive slowly now, it wasn't that long ago that my dad thought nothing of doing 40 in a 30, but now he will stick to the limits at all times. Attitudes have changed and even if you don't want to believe it simply physics means the lower speed you're going the less likely you are of killing somebody.
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Thu 25 Jun 2009 22:59
Road Deaths At Record Low - Hector Brocklebank
Attitudes have changed


I wonder if they really have, Rattle. In what way would you say? I'm too new to driving to have noticed any differences but I wonder if a cultural shift is partly responsible for the declining figure. In any case it's good news, a far cry from the 8,000 fatalities in 1966 (BBC).
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Thu 25 Jun 2009 23:03
Road Deaths At Record Low - Rattle
.*********
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Fri 26 Jun 2009 08:34
Road Deaths At Record Low - L'escargot
I am sure people do drive slowly now ........


As cars have got more powerful and roadholding has improved, my speeds on rural roads have increased. I now corner at speeds which I wouldn't have attempted to do 30 to 40 years ago. My journey times (on single carriageway roads) are now noticeably shorter.
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Fri 26 Jun 2009 12:29
Road Deaths At Record Low - BrianW
I believe that technology and advances in medical science are the major factors.

In my driving lifetime seatbelts were optional, tyres were cross-ply, airbags unheard of, crash barriers non-existent, crash helmets for motorcyclists optional, crumple zones didn't exist.

Life support systems were crude, drugs and surgery less advanced.

It's not surprising that accidents are less life-threatening.

However, the camera lobby will claim it's all down to their machines.
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