Road Casualties on the Decline

But figures show cyclists in Ealing should beware

Figures for Londons traffic collisions for 2003 have just been released. Overall accidents and fatalities are down with Ealing seeing a similar fall to the rest of London. One negative development locally was the increase in the number of cyclists injured.

The Key findings are:

* 31,811 road traffic collisions involving personal injury were reported. This is a 6 percent decrease on 2002 figures
* These 31,811 collisions resulted in 38,430 casualties (a 6 percent decrease on 2002),

of these:
* 272 were fatalities (down 3 percent from 279 in 2002);
* 4,892 were seriously injured (a 9 percent decrease from 2002);
* 33,266 were slightly injured (a 7 percent decrease from 2002);
* Overall casualties decreased by 7 percent compared with 2002;
* Men accounted for 62 percent of casualties;
* In 2003, 201 out of the 272 fatalities (74 percent) were people
outside of vehicles;
* 13 children were killed; 530 seriously injured and 2,789 slightly injured;
* Fatalities decreased by 11 percent in inner London but increased by
3 percent in outer London;
* The total number of casualties decreased by 6 percent in inner
London and 8 percent in outer London and;
* Overall casualties decreased by 8 percent in outer London and by 6
percent in inner London.

Figures for Ealing are below with percentage change from 2002 in brackets.

May 16th 2004