Vulnerable Road Users

This is a useful website that outlines Road Casualties in Great Britain. Factsheets include: Road Accidents, Fatalities, Pedestrian casualties, Pedal cycle casualties, Child casualties, and Motorcycle casualties.

This short guidance note on Permit Schemes is aimed at English local highway authorities, and provides tips and suggestions on scheme development and application practicalities. It reflects experience and lessons learned during the development and approval of the first schemes, and should be read in conjunction with, other Department for Transport (DfT) guidance documents giving more detailed advice.

In 2008, 115 pedal cyclists were killed and 2,450 reported as seriously injured on Britain’s roads, accounting for 9% of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. The Government is committed to reducing road casualties for all road users, including cyclists, and has a national casualty target of reducing by 40% the number of people KSI in road collisions by 2010, compared with the baseline average for 1994-98. Whilst there is no specific target relating to cyclists, in 2004 the number of KSI had fallen to 38% below the baseline average. However, the number of KSI has increased steadily since then and in 2007 and 2008 was 31% below the baseline average. The Department for Transport commissioned research to assess the causes of collisions involving cyclists. This report investigates the key causal factors relating to accidents involving cyclists. The work involved an international literature review and a detailed analysis of cyclist casualties in Great Britain, drawing on both national and in-depth databases of road collisions and cycling. The main source of the casualty data was the national STATS19 injury accident data for 1994-2007. Contributory factor data has been recorded nationally as part of the STATS19 system from 2005 and is also reported. The main source of cycling activity data was the National Travel Survey (NTS)

There has been much debate in the literature and elsewhere regarding cycle helmets and their potential to prevent injury. This cycle helmet safety research report was commissioned to provide a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of cycle helmets in the event of an on-road accident, building on previous work undertaken for the Department for Transport (Towner et al., 2002). The programme of work evaluates the effectiveness of cycle helmets from several perspectives, including a review current test Standards; a biomechanical investigation of their potential limitations; a review of recent literature; and finally an assessment of the casualties who could be prevented if cycle helmets were more widely used. This report focuses on understanding whether cycle helmets reduce the frequency and severity of injury in the event of a collision. It does not include detailed consideration of whether wearing (or not wearing) a helmet influences the likelihood of being involved in an accident, either through behaviour changes in the rider or in other road users. The project concludes that in the event of an on-road accident, cycle helmets would be expected to be effective in a range of real-world accident conditions, particularly the most common accidents that do not involve a collision with another vehicle and are often believed to consist of simple falls or tumbles over the handlebars.

In 2008, 115 pedal cyclists were killed and 2,450 reported as seriously injured on Britain’s roads, accounting for 9% of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties. The Government is committed to reducing road casualties for all road users, including cyclists, and has a national casualty target of reducing by 40% the number of people KSI in road collisions by 2010, compared with the baseline average for 1994-98. Whilst there is no specific target relating to cyclists, in 2004 the number of KSI had fallen to 38% below the baseline average. However, the number of KSI has increased steadily since then and in 2007 and 2008 was 31% below the baseline average. The Department for Transport commissioned research to assess the causes of collisions involving cyclists. This report is a technical annex to the main report which investigates the key causal factors relating to accidents involving cyclists. The work involved an international literature review and a detailed analysis of cyclist casualties in Great Britain, drawing on both national and in-depth databases of road collisions and cycling. The main source of the casualty data was the national STATS19 injury accident data for 1994-2007. Contributory factor data has been recorded nationally as part of the STATS19 system from 2005 and is also reported. The main source of cycling activity data was the National Travel Survey (NTS).

This issue of Current Topics includes over 75 abstracts of reports, conference papers, books and journal articles which focus on the area of highway safety auditing. Subjects include audits of junctions, the vicinity of schools, cycling facilities, accident locations and traffic signs, as well as of entire highways. Several papers consider audits from the perspective of particular road user groups such as pedestrians and motorcyclists. Software and instructions developed to assist in road safety audits are described. These items have been selected from the material added to the Transport Research Laboratory's Library Database between 2005 and 2009. Much of the relevant English language published literature from the UK, USA, Australia and Europe is included; some of the non-UK literature is included courtesy of the OECD International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) database.

This report sets out the findings of an appraisal into shared space. It concludes that shared space schemes appear to be beneficial in appropriate settings, and that from the data available, there is no evidence that shared space schemes, including those with shared surfaces, as implemented in the UK have more casualties than conventional layouts, or that particular groups, including disabled people, are injured more frequently following their introduction.

Commuted sums were provided for under the Highways Act 1980 as a payment in lieu of providing the facility. Payments can either be a lump sum or phased payments following set triggers. Contributions can be sought towards either physical provision, such as roads or landscaping, or social provision, such as affordable housing or provision of community facilities. The use of commuted sums for future maintenance is not new, but there is considerable variation in their use and practice by highway authorities in relation to new developments. As a result, the mechanism has become unpopular with many developers. The aim of the new CSS guidance document is to offer a transparent and consistent approach to commuted sums. It believes the clarity of approach should help remove the uncertainty and risk for developers at an early stage in the process.

Sustainable travel initiatives have the potential to add real value to the next round of Local Transport Plans (LTP). This guide seeks to complement statutory LTP Guidance by providing support for developing a sustainable travel business case based on the latest evidence and good practice from around the country.

Motorcyclists were segmented into seven groups based on their motivation for riding. This was on the basis of qualitative research with riders and a survey of riders. Clear patterns were established in different segments’ understandings of risk, and their approaches to dealing with it. The study specifically focused on patterns in self-reported decisions about motorcycles, helmets and safety gear (both decisions to purchase and decisions about what to wear), and approaches to avoiding fatigue. However, the segmentation has potential application across a wide range of safety issues.