Fatal road accidents fall 41% between 1960 and 2009

The number of motor vehicle accidents in the UK has fallen by 41% over the last 50 years, despite a significantly higher number of people on the nation’s roads.

This was the discovery of research published in the Emergency Medical Journal, which was performed by a team of scientists from the University of Nottingham.

Researchers looked at Office for National Statistics road death data for the years between 1960 and 2009 – a period that saw 102,196 people lose their lives in road traffic accidents.

In 2009, just 964 people died in motor vehicle accidents, but in 1960 this figure was 1,647.

A particularly significant decrease was seen in the number of deaths of children – while 60 people under the age of 14 were killed in road accidents in 1960, in 2009 this figure fell to 20 – a 70% decline.

People from socially-deprived backgrounds were found to be more likely to die on the road than more affluent people, while men had a higher death rate than women in every year studied.

An increase was seen in the number of people over the age of 75 who died in motor vehicle accidents, with 1960 seeing 69 deaths and 2009 seeing 109, but the researchers pointed out that there are also more drivers over the age of 75 nowadays than there were in 1960.

Road traffic accident claims

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