Road safety as a public health problem – the challenges of rural roads November 2018

What is the issue? Parliamentary Review of Health and Care in Wales has “improving population health and wellbeing through prevention” as one of the ‘Quadruple aims’. Preventing death and injury on the road is, I would argue, central to this aim. Some basic stats about RTCs

Reduction in road deaths has stalled Source: EuroRAP Source: British EuroRap results 2018; in report “Getting back on track2 (Road Safety Foundation) The historical trend is not continuing The trend in the number of fatalities has been broadly flat since 2010 (DfT, Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain, 2017)

Why worry about rural roads? Source: DfT 2018 Source: Reported Road Casualties, GB, 2017 (DfT) Specific rural road RTC stats Rural roads represent the largest proportion of fatalities The number of deaths is disproportionate to the volume of traffic

What are the risks? Environment Lack of road markings and run-off No traffic separation (recommended speed limits are lower vs divided roads) Time for emergency services to find location (Powys CC initiative to put grid references on reverse of all road signs) Distance to hospital services

What are the risks - People? Speeding is contributory factor in around 50% of all collisions Distracted driving is contributory factor in around 25% (probably an underestimate)

Speeding as a contributory factor in crashes by road type Motorway A road B road Other Exceeding speed limit 3% 5% 6% Travelling too fast for conditions 9% 8% 7% Driver careless, reckless or in a hurry 10% 14% 15% TOTAL 22% 25% 29% 28% Source: DfT 2018 Speeding is contributory factor in around a quarter to a third of all collisions (Source: Road Casualties 2017; RAS50003, DfT, 2018) Official figures say distracted driving is contributory factor in around 5-6% (probably an underestimate)

Rural roads are higher risk Source: EuroRAP The stats tell us that rural roads are higher risk (EuroRAP) and Wales has its share of high risk roads due to proportion of ‘rural’ roads Single carriageway A roads have 8 times the risk of motorways and more than 3 times the risk of dual carriageways/ This chart shows KSI risk by road type with single carriageway roads having highest risk. MOST rural roads are single carriageway (particularly in this county Powys) PLUS The A548 in Wales between junction A55 and junction with A548 is one of Britain’s persistently higher risk roads with one of highest EuroRAP risk ratings 2011-13 (120.9) and 2014-16 (116.9) and no significant reduction between the periods. (The British EuroRAP network is motorways and A roads outside urban areas = 10% of network but 52% fatalities between 2014-16) KSI crashes on this network have increase by almost 3% 2011-13 to 2014-16 (CRASH system changes may confound these figures?)

Welsh roads rated for crash risk…and Mid Wales This chart shows KSI risk by road type with single carriageway roads having highest risk. MOST rural roads are single carriageway (particularly in this county Powys) and few roads are low risk. Add the issue of access to services to this and survival outcomes can be affected – ‘Golden Hour’ is compromised. PLUS The A548 in Wales between junction A55 and junction with A548 is one of Britain’s persistently higher risk roads with one of highest EuroRAP risk ratings 2011-13 (120.9) and 2014-16 (116.9) and no significant reduction between the periods. Source: EuroRAP

What can be done? ISSUE Intervention 1 Intervention 2 Speeding Speed awareness courses Speed cameras Distracted driving Fixed penalty notice Behavioural change techniques? (EAST) Groups at risk Graduated driver licensing Advanced training (RoSPA, IAM etc.) We need to make speeding and distracted driving as unacceptable as drink driving There is strong evidence that graduated driver licencing can reduce risk for younger (and older) drivers Speed awareness courses also reduce crash risk Average speed cameras are particularly effective ISA is a new technology already available which ensures speed compliance Advanced training for particular groups Behaviour change techniques for distracted driving – we need to understand why people still do it EAST = easy, affordable, social, timely (half life of the teachable moment)

What are the benefits? This puts a value on the consequences Of course, impossible to put a value on personal loss or bereavement

Unintended consequences… Just a word about potential consequences of interventions e.g. encouraging older people to stop driving can lead to higher risk to health and wellbeing through cycling or social isolation

Thanks for listening. Any Questions? Jenny Shepherd Senior Researcher jshepherd@trl.co.uk +44 [0]1344 770 022 | +44 [0]7970 365855 TRL | Crowthorne House | Nine Mile Ride | Wokingham Berkshire | RG40 3GA | United Kingdom

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