1. Suicide on THE UK Road NETWORK
DAVID DAVIES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PACTS

2. SUICIDE IN THE UK
6,000 people commit suicide in the UK each year
The single biggest killer of men aged under 45 in the UK
Suicides on the railway and in aviation are well documented ?
Most fatalities on the rail network are suicide.
Pilots - 5 suicides in the past 30 years
- associated loss of over 400 lives.
300 a year.
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

3. 300 Railways – deaths from suicide each year.
WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Railways – deaths from suicide each year.
Known with considerable accuracy.
300
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

4. WHAT DO WE KNOW about roads?
Not much!
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

5. ON The Strategic Road Network
SRN in England:
In first six months of 2016, the number of incidents defined as either suicide or attempted suicide was
568
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

6. Recorded numbers do not distinguish between deaths and ‘attempts.’
But....
Highways England data covers only the Strategic Road Network, in England.
Recorded numbers do not distinguish between deaths and ‘attempts.’
Where are these incidents most prevalent?
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

7. The rest of the road network?
No information on the wider numbers affected.
In the event that a STATS19 report is completed for a road death that is later determined to be a suicide, it is removed from the RRCGB statistics.
It is not collated elsewhere.
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

8. Methods of suicide in uk, 2014 - ONS
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

9. WHAT PACTS has done FOI requests to police forces and coroners
Liaison with Samaritans and Highways England
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

10. WHAT WE FOUND
‘We deal with approx 4500 deaths a year, so, for the 3 years would be at least 13,000 records to review individually, to look for the circumstances surrounding the death and the conclusion given by the Coroner at the inquest.’ HM Senior Coroner for Avon
‘A free text search has located, over the 3 year period, some 54,000 separate records which include the terms “suicide”; “death” or “attempt” and it has been established that an experienced analyst would take an average of 5 seconds to examine each of these records individually to retrieve the information desired. This equates to a total of 75 hours to achieve your request and exceeds the cost limitations of the Act.’ Cambridgeshire Police
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

11. PROBLEMS WITH THE DATA
‘In short, it is reasonable to conclude that there is something of a data gap with regard to suicide and attempted suicide on UK roads, particularly with comparison to other transport modes.’ House of Commons Library
CONFIDENTIALITY
AMBIGUITY
REPORTING
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

12. What should be done? Its not good enough
PACTS: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport SAFETY

13. prepared by Katy Harrison, PACTS
prepared by Katy Harrison, PACTS