New research conducted by law firm Lime Solicitors reveals an overall decrease in the number of road traffic accidents that ambulance vehicles were called to assist in the year ending August 2023, yet the severity of accidents persists.
A mass Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all ten Ambulance Trusts in England shows a 9% decline in the total number of road traffic accidents that respondent Trusts have attended between September 2022 and August 2023, compared to the previous year– from 60,823 to 55,185.
Out of all the Ambulance Trusts which responded to the request, paramedics in the East Midlands attended the highest number of accidents, 13,017 in total. However, the region still follows the national trend of decline, with the figure representing an 8.5% decrease in comparison to the previous 12-month period.
The most significant reduction was recorded by North West Ambulance Service, where the number of accidents attended by ambulances decreased by almost a third (31%) – from 11,987 to 8,263 accidents in the in the year ending August 2023.
In contrast, road traffic accidents attended by an ambulance in the East of England increased by almost a quarter (23%) from 7,222 to 8,866 in the year ending August 2023.
The data also reveals the severity of road traffic accidents, with a significant proportion of patients being referred to a Major Trauma Centre or taken to A&E. For instance, figures from East of England Ambulance Service show that more than half of victims in road traffic collisions (58%) had to be taken to A&E. In the West Midlands, almost a fifth (17%) were referred to a Major Trauma Centre, testament to the seriousness of injuries caused in the collisions.
Lime Solicitors also issued FOI requests to Police Forces across England, and the research reveals a similar picture, with a 5% decline in the total number of road traffic accidents that respondent Forces recorded in the two timeframes – from 55,006 to 51,995.
Out of the Police Forces which responded to the request, the Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of accidents, with Met officers responding to 19,990 collisions in the year ending August 2023. This is followed by Nottinghamshire Police and Thames Valley Police.
Nottinghamshire Police and Thames Valley Police were also the only two which recorded an increase in accidents – with 11,314 and 8,771 collisions, respectively.
In terms of the causes of collisions, data from the West Midlands Police reveals that 14% of these were speeding-related.
Martin Usher, Head of Serious Injury at Lime Solicitors, comments: “It is positive that the number of road traffic accidents that Police Forces and Ambulance Trusts are responding to is slightly decreasing, but there is more we need to do to further improve the safety of our roads.
“There is especially a persistent issue with speed compliance in the UK, with the real figures likely to be even higher if we consider the cases that do not lead to a prosecution. More needs to be done by the government in terms of legislation, infrastructure improvements, and public awareness campaigns to ensure that road safety measures are both appropriate and enforced.
“We also need to look at road traffic accidents in relation to other factors that often impact the likelihood that someone will be involved in an accident. Research has shown numerous times that collisions are linked to other socio-economic factors, such as deprivation, so we must think about road safety in a holistic manner. To be successful, road safety campaigns should target pedestrians and motorists from all demographics to ensure that our streets are safe for all.”
