Road casualities decrease in Brighton and Hove - Greens claim credit for their sustainable transport policies - total road deaths and collisions down but cycle casualties increase

30.11.2013. Brighton and Hove City Council and the city's Green Party trumpeted a reduction in the total number of reported injuries on the cities roads, following data released in November 2013.

Council data showed 978 people killed or injured in Brighton and Hove in 2012, down from 1,106 (2011) and 1,110 (2010). Numbers killed (5) or seriously injured (155) also fell, as did number of collisions (789, down from 893). 

The Green Party, which is in control of the city, said the drop was due to its policies, which are designed to encourage sustainable transport - ie a 'modal shift' away from private motor cars and toward public transport, cycling and walking.

The council published detailed breakdowns of the statistics that showed the overall drop in casualties. The publication of detailed casualty data by the council is a new development. These data also show breakdowns for 'vulnerable groups'. Among these, there has been a slight increase in causalities among cyclists. In 2012, 161 cyclists were injured, up from 157 the previous year. There were no cyclist fatalities. This might be presumed due to an increase in cyclists using the roads. Data is detailed in links given at the end of this article.

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.

Urban A roads 17 times more dangerous for cyclists than car occupants

Last week I reported that casualties among cyclists have been rising, presumably due to increased rate of cycling. Today I got more data from the DfT, which confirms cyclists are at considerably higher risk than car drivers in both urban and rural areas.

Last week I noted that cyclists were 14 times as likely as motor car drivers to be injured per mile travelled, and I wondered if maybe the great difference in risk was due motorways being very safe places for a good part of the journeys made by cars. I asked the DfT to clarify this.

Today, a very nice spokesperson from the DfT sent me data from 2009 which shows that casualty rates (per mile traveled) for cyclists were 10 times greater than those for car occupants. If we remove the motorway from the equation the ratio improves: in urban areas, cycling is 8 times more dangerous than car driving, and in rural areas it is 'only' 6.5 times more dangerous.

However, within urban areas, on A roads, cyclists were 17 times as likely to be injured as people in cars, per mile travelled. (see table below). While we may argue that cyclists travel less miles, so suffer less overall risk of injury, we must still be concerned that the risk per mile traveled is so much higher for cyclists, especially on urban A roads - which, in my town, are often designated cycle routes.

This is a powerful argument for constructing segregated cycle routes to separate cyclists from A road traffic.

Casualties per billion miles traveled on various roads - 2010	Urban Roads (A roads)	Urban Roads (other)	All Urban Roads	All Rural Roads	Motor way	All Roads
Pedal cycle	14,234	4,485	6,120	3,758	0	5,543
Car	839	688	751	579	201	576
x more dangerous 4 cycles	17.0	6.5	8.1	6.5	0.0	9.6

Extracted from "Reported Road Casualties  Great Britain: 2009  - Annual Report  - Table 26

Increased cycle casualities due to increase in cycling, says DfT's Norman Baker, and suggests "trixi mirrors" might improve safety

Minister of Transport Norman Baker said today that increased cycle casualties on Britain's roads may be due to increased rates of cycling - and suggested measures to improve visibility for truck drivers at traffic lights might help.

Mr Baker, UK's Regional and Local Transport Minister, said: “We take the issue of cycle safety extremely seriously and are working to reduce the instances of death and serious injuries of cyclists on our roads.

“The year-on-year rise in the number of cyclists killed and injured may be due to the increase in cycling we have seen in recent years."

Mr Baker was responding to Department for Transport data released last week that showed cycle casualties increased by 10% in 2011 compared to 2010.

The DfT has not published statistics showing increase in cycling for the period to March 2011. Rather, 2010 statistics say that cycle casualties rose by 1%, and cycle use rose by 1% in 2009-10 - supporting the Minister's claim that increased cycle causalities were due to increased cycling:

The number of pedal cyclists killed increased by 7 per cent from 104 in 2009 to 111 in 2010. The number seriously injured in accidents reported to the police increased by 2 per cent to 2,660. Total reported casualties among pedal cyclists also rose, by 1 per cent, compared to 2009. Pedal cyclist traffic levels are estimated to have risen by 1 per cent over the same period. (Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Main Results 201030 June 2011)

Minister Baker is right about the long term trend. From 2000 to 2010, there has been a 23% increase in the number of miles cycled annually from 2.6bn to 3.1bn miles. (DfT Table TRA0101 Road traffic (vehicle miles) by vehicle type).

In the same period, 2000 - 2010, reported cycle casualties per billion miles fell by 30%, from 7,900 to 5,500 casualties per billion miles cycled. (DfT: Reported casualty rates: by road user type and severity Great Britain: 2000-2010).

To put this another way: for every million miles cycled, the average cyclist might expect to have accidents resulting in injury 5.5 times. If we say, for example, that average journey distance was 3 miles, I make that, erm, one accident per 60,600 journeys. If you did around two cycle trips a day, that would take a round 100 years.

In the short term, though, there was a surge in cyclist deaths. UK cyclist organisation CTC reported on 30 June a 10% increase in cycle deaths per billion miles in 2010. Maybe this is a statistical blip - and some have blamed the severe winter. "Cycle casualty numbers not reducing fast enough" 

Trixi mirror - Guardian

Norman Baker added: “We want to see more innovative measures being put in place to improve cycle safety and we have authorised a trial of trixi mirrors in London which, if successful, could be used elsewhere in the country to make cyclists more visible to drivers.”

Trixi mirrors were first suggested in 2009, when when the Guardian reported on Boris Johnsons idea of visibility mirrors at traffic lights, and quoted Transport for London's suggestion that visibility problems with large lorries are causing most of the cycle casualties:

"Of the 15 cyclists who died on the capital's roads last year, nine were killed in collisions with lorries. In most cases the lorry was turning left and the driver failed to see the cyclist on their inside, according to TfL. The proposed mirror would give the driver, who will be looking at the traffic signals as they wait for the lights to change, a clear view of anyone between the lorry and the kerb, or those just below the front of their vehicle." (Guardian 16 June 2009)

Cyclists killed or seriously injured up by 10% on last year: UK Department for Transport figures released last week

Cycle casualties rise as all others fall - DfT

The total number of reported pedal cycle casualties rose by six per cent, and the number killed or seriously injured (KSI) rose by 10 per cent, in the year to March 2011 compared to 2010, according to a Department for Transport report issued August 4. Meanwhile, casualties for all other forms of transport have continued the long term reducing trend.

Cycle causalities have been rising steadily since 2007. In 2007, 16,195 cyclists were reported injured on the road, and this figure has risen each year to the current figure of 17,185 - of a total of 209,000 road casualties. While the number of injured cyclists is lower than the number injured in motorcars, the proportion of injured cyclists is high compared to the official figures for numbers of journeys made by bicycle. Estimates say around 2% of journeys are made by bicycle - but the above figures show that 8% of casualties are cyclists.

There has been speculation that this cycle causality increase is linked to increased cycling, but the increase in casualties appears to be greater than the increase in cycling - at least on a national level where cycling is reported to have increased by 1.5% (I got this figure from a Channel 4 report - I'm trying to get a confirmation from DfT).

The DfT report - "Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Quarterly Provisional Estimates Q1 2011" - showed reducing causality figures in all other forms of transport. Pedestrian, motorcycle and car user casualties reported to the police showed overall reductions of 1, 5 and 7 per cent respectively compared with the year ending March 2010. Pedestrian, motorcycle and car user casualties KSI also fell, by 3, 6 and 9 per cent respectively compared with the previous 12 months.

The DfT report didn't feel the increase in cycle casualites was important enough to include in its key findings table, which I reproduce below.

"Key findings from the Quarterly Provisional Estimates Q1 2011 include:
• There were 1,870 people killed and 24,770 killed or seriously injured (KSI), in reported road accidents in the year ending March 2011. This represents a fall of 10 and 5 per cent respectively compared to the previous 12 month period. 
• There were 208,150 casualties (slight injuries, serious injuries and fatalities), 5 per cent less than the year ending March 2010.
• Total reported child casualties (ages 0-15) fell by 3 per cent to 19,810 with those killed or seriously injured down 4 per cent (2,510), compared with the year ending March 2010.
• The number of injury road accidents reported to the police fell by 5 per cent (to 154,030) and the number of fatal accidents by 8 per cent (to 1,770) compared with the 12-month period ending March 2010. 
• Motor vehicle traffic levels fell by 0.7 per cent compared to the 12 month period ending March 2010."

I've asked Brighton and Hove City council for comparative figures for our city. Last time I wrote on this subject was in 2009, when there was an increase of 6.8% in cycle casualties in B&H. There was supposed to be an increase in cycling of 27% in the 2006-2008 period. We need more complete statistics if we are to correlate increases in cycling with casualties in B&H.

Click here for Link to "Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: Quarterly Provisional Estimates Q1 2011"