Look at latest safety stats

Once again the statistics confound popular beliefs. More motorcycles = more accidents? Not according to the Dft’s ‘Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2009: Annual Report’ which shows that while motorcycle traffic went up by 2 per cent in 2009 (compared to 2008) , motorcycle casualty rates actually fell by a third.

In fact motorcycle traffic was 35 per cent higher than the 1994-98 average, a greater traffic increase than for any other road user type. Yet in percentage terms, the killed and seriously injured (KSI) rate has fallen by 33% against the 1994 -1998 base line average.

Not only did casualties fall in percentage terms, they also fell in real terms too, by 4 per cent (from 21,550 in 2008 to 20,703 in 2009). This figure is 14 per cent lower than the 1994-98 average. Comparing 2009 to 2008, there were 21 fewer fatalities, 206 fewer serious injuries and 620 fewer slight injuries.

Another interesting fact that has emerged from the report is that, for all classes of road casualties, ‘failed to look properly’ is still the single biggest cause of all accidents (reported in 38% of all accidents in 2009). More that one out of every three casulaties were caused by road users failing to look properly - think about that the next time you approach a junction!

Flash, bang what a picture.

Well, apparently, that's it for speed cameras in Oxfordshire.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if road safety was as simple as some people believe? Lots of nice ‘facts’. A clear, easy solution to save lives. Even better if we could enforce that solution automatically by machine.