Lawford Kidd's Blog

European Road Safety Day took place on 6th May and its theme this year was "pedestrian road safety".

Of the 30,000 people killed on European roads per year (28,000 in 2012), on average 21% are pedestrians, 7% are cyclists and 18% are riders of motorcycles and mopeds. Around 70% of the pedestrians who die are killed within urban areas.

There is cause for concern because, during the past ten years, the number of pedestrians killed in road accidents has not decreased to the same extent as the total number of road deaths. Almost half of all road deaths in urban areas involve a pedestrian or a cyclist.

The latest edition of the TUC's safety publication 'Hazards at Work' has been published amid growing concerns over cuts to workplace safety inspections.

The guide, now in its 30th year, warns of a 'hostile' political climate to health and safety that has resulted in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) being prevented from making proactive visits to many workplaces to check that employers are working in ways that don't put their staff at risk.

The government has cut the HSE budget by 35%, and local authority safety inspection teams are also working with substantially reduced funding, at a time when the UK's safety record appears to be getting worse.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, has announced that although his consideration of the evidence is not complete, he has made the decision to apply to the High Court to quash the inquest verdicts of the 96 victims and order fresh inquests.

He will now write to the families of the victims to give them the opportunity to make representations, and continue the detailed work of preparing an application.

The Attorney General, in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament, said:

An Essex firm has been prosecuted after one of its employees suffered life-changing injuries when he fell from a stepladder while spray-painting a lorry.

The 51-year-old man shattered his left shoulder and collar bone, broke several ribs and received a deep cut to his head in the fall.  

The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that the same employee had fallen off a stepladder just one month before the incident, but no action had been taken to improve safety at the site.

The Department of Transport has published detailed statistics on traffic related personal injury accidents in 2011.

Key findings from the report include:

• In 2011, there were a total of 203,950 casualties of all severities in road accidents reported to the police, 2% lower than in 2010. There were 1,901 people killed, a 3% increase over 2010 and 23,122 were seriously injured, up 2%. Motor vehicle traffic increased slightly (0.2%) over the same period.
• The number of fatalities fell for three types of road user, with a fall of 22% for bus and coach occupants, 10% for motor cyclists and 4% for pedal cyclists. Pedestrian and car occupants rose by 12% and 6% respectively.
• In 2011, it is estimated 9,990 reported casualties (5% of all road casualties) occurred when someone was driving whilst over the legal alcohol limit. The provisional number of people estimated to have been killed in drink drive accidents was 280 (15% of all road fatalities).
• Failed to look properly was again the most frequently reported contributory factor and was reported in 42% of all accidents reported to the police in 2011.
• In 2011, the economic welfare cost of reported road accidents was estimated to be around £15.6 billion.