Total cycle casualties drop slightly in Brighton and Hove in 2010 - despite two fatalities last year, and overall rise in casualties since 2008.

Cycle casualties in B&H 2008-2009-2010

Total casualties amongst cyclists on roads in Brighton and Hove dropped slightly in 2010 compared to 2009, according to a spokesperson for Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) - although there were two fatalities during 2010 vs none in the previous two years, and the latest data confirms the picture of increasing cycle casualties since 2008.

The information was provided by a BHCC spokesperson in response to a query from this blog after national statistics released by the DfT showed a six per cent increase in cycle casualties in the UK. The rise in casualties among cyclists was said to be due to an increase in the numbers of cyclists on the roads.

Total casualties in Brighton and Hove fell from 163 (2009) to 157 (2010), and serious injuries fell from 32 to 21.  In 2008 there were only 127 casualties amongst cyclists.

The council spokesperson advised that local statistics should be used with caution since the small numbers make it hard to be certain of trends. However, the 2010 data does seem to confirm a general picture of rising cycle casualties since 2008.

Full data provided by the BHCC spokesperson follows:

CYCLING CASUALTIES (INCLUDING PASSENGERS)

3 full years

	Pedal Cycle Casualties
YEAR	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2008	0	22	105	127
2009	0	32	131	163
2010	2	21	134	157
Total	2	75	370	447

Cycling casualties increased significantly in 2009 and then reduced slightly in 2010. 

Half years

	Pedal Cycle Casualties
HALF-YEAR TO JUNE	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2009 to end June	0	16	67	83
2010 to end June	1	10	64	75
2011 to end June	0	16	65	81

The number of cyclist casualties for the first half year of 2011 fall between the totals for 2009 and 2010 in the same period. 

PEDESTRIAN CASUALTIES

3 full years

	Pedestrian Casualties
YEAR	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2008	1	45	161	207
2009	1	57	145	203
2010	1	47	143	191

Half-years

	Pedestrian Casualties
HALF-YEAR TO END JUNE	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2009 to end June	1	32	74	107
2010 to end June	0	23	78	101
2011 to end June	2	24	85	111

Although there has been a downward trend for pedestrian casualties in the past few years, the 2011 half-year data shows a slight increase in numbers.

POWERED TWO-WHEELER CASUALTIES

3 full years

	PTW Casualties
Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2008	2	33	93	128
2009	1	31	82	114
2010	4	33	63	100

Half-years

	PTW Casualties
HALF-YEAR TO END JUNE	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
2009 to end June	1	16	43	60
2010 to end June	3	13	35	48
2011 to end June	0	20	31	51

As with the pedestrian casualties, there has been a steady reduction in PTW casualties over recent years, however in the first six months of 2011 there has been a slight increase when compared to 2010 figures.

Due to random fluctuations, comparing data for single years or for short periods, rather than using several years’ data, can be misleading and does not necessarily show a change in trend. Also, giving percentage changes on small numbers can be extremely misleading. For example, comparing PTW KSI casualties half year 2010 to 2011 shows a highly significant increase of 25%, but this is actually an increase of 4 casualties, none of which were fatalities.

Please note:
Reported Injury Accident data is provided to Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) by Sussex Police (the data owners)
BHCC does not hold accident data where there are no recorded casualties.
BHCC reconcile the current year’s data during the first quarter of the following year. BHCC also continue to amend/improve data after this period, which may mean data differs slightly from Sussex Police and as published by Dft.