Managing Road Safety – Latest Casualty Figures Released

If you have employees who drive for work, then it is important that you have suitable policies and procedures in place to manage their safety. Failing to manage road safety can be costly for employers in terms of greater risk of accidents, increased insurance costs, poor staff morale, and, in the worst cases, prosecutions and fines.

Consequences for individual drivers can include fines and penalty points or disqualifications and, in the worst cases, serious or even fatal injury.

The Department for Transport recently published the latest statistics for road traffic injuries and fatalities in Great Britain. These figures cover road traffic-related personal injuries reported to the police for 2023. It is important to note that while figures for fatalities are likely to be accurate, there is no obligation for all personal injury incidents to be reported to the police. While the figures for injuries will be an underestimate, they are still useful for analysing trends over time.

 

Overall, the figures showed a return to long-term trends prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023 there were:

• 1,624 fatalities
• 29,711 people killed or seriously injured
• 132,977 casualties of all severities.

 

These figures should be compared to the total distances travelled, which reached 334 billion vehicle miles in 2023, an increase of 8% from levels in 2013. This gives a rate of:

• 5 fatalities per billion vehicle miles travelled (a 12% fall in the fatality rate since 2013).
• 89 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles (a 16% fall since 2013).
• 389 casualties of all severities per billion vehicle miles (a 33% fall since 2013)

 

While the long-term trends are positive, every accident represents a personal and financial cost for those involved. So, what else can the figures tell us?

The figures can provide an insight into the road users who are most at risk and when they are most at risk.

In 2023, 45% of fatalities were car occupants, 25% were pedestrians, 19% were motorcyclists, and 5% were pedal cyclists.

Also, 45% of fatalities occurred on rural roads, 35% on urban roads, and only 5% on motorways; however, the situation for all casualties is slightly different, with 63% occurring on urban roads and 33% on rural roads.

Speed was identified as a factor in almost 58% of fatal collisions; other significant factors included behaviour or inexperience (47% of fatal collisions) and distraction or impairment (35%).

Finally, it is also worth noting that almost 25% of car occupant fatalities were reported as not wearing a seatbelt.

 

So, what do employers need to do?

All employers should assess the work-related risks that their employees and others are exposed to. When assessing risks involved with driving for work, key factors to consider include:

• The journey
• The driver (or rider)
• The vehicle

 

When considering journeys, the first factor to consider is whether the journey is actually necessary. Where a journey is necessary, then suitable planning is required, for example, choosing the safest routes and times of day to travel, taking into consideration the type of vehicle, allowing sufficient time for journeys, planning to include rest breaks where appropriate, and taking weather conditions into account.

Drivers, or riders, should have the appropriate training and information they need to carry out their work safely. More than simply checking that they hold a current driving licence for the type of vehicle, you should consider each driver’s suitability for the role. This can involve considering their level of experience, maturity, attitude, as well as physical capabilities. Some drivers may require additional specialist training for their role. Awareness campaigns, for example, regarding avoiding distractions, seatbelt wearing, alcohol awareness, etc., can benefit all drivers.

You should also consider whether the vehicle used is suitable; for example, can they safely carry any goods or equipment the driver requires for their role? Larger vehicles may require reversing alarms or camera systems to be fitted to support safe manoeuvring. All vehicles will need to be maintained; where drivers use their own vehicles, then controls should be in place to check that they are serviced at required intervals.

It is also important to consider the fitness of drivers, both from the perspective of whether they can meet the eyesight and health requirements set out in law and also the impact of driving on their health, e.g., considering fatigue, posture, stress, and mental health effects.

If you have any questions or would like support with managing issues at your workplace, please speak to your usual contact or get in touch using the form below.