Casualty stats cause media stir
The DfT's Road Casualties Great Britain 2005 Annual Report caused a media stir last week.
The BBC News website reported that the 'figures may be flawed...as police figures, on which the statistics are based, tend to be lower than hospital figures'.
A DfT spokesman defended the figures, saying: "We have always used police figures and they do provide a straight year-on-year comparison."
For the first time, the stats revealed details of contributory factors to accidents. Speeding, or driving within the limits but too fast for the conditions, was a factor in 15% of all accidents, and in 26% of fatal accidents.
But failure to look properly was the most common contributory factor, featuring in 32% of all accidents. Of the six most stated factors, five were some form of mistake by the motorist.
Under the headline, 'the case for speed cameras destroyed in a flash', the Telegraph's transport correspondent asked, 'has the danger of speeding been overplayed? '
The article went on to say that 'a review of the Government's speed cameras policy was demanded yesterday after official statistics showed that only 5% of crashes are caused by drivers breaking the speed limit', and that 'drivers who let their attention wander cause more than six times as many accidents'.
Edmund King, of the RAC Foundation, said: "The figures suggest that drivers need to concentrate more on the road rather than on their phones, passengers, music, food, drinks, navigation systems and the clutter of signs."
Andrew Howard, of the AA Motoring Trust, supported the Government's analysis and the camera programme. "Human beings make mistakes - so the only thing that can be done is to mitigate their impact and that means slowing the car down," he said.
Jools Townsend, director of community campaigns, at the road safety charity Brake, said: "These figures confirm that speed is a contributory factor in a huge proportion of road deaths and injuries and that it's essential for drivers to not only stay within limits at all times, but also slow right down in dangerous conditions."
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA head of road safety, said: "We welcome the news that deaths and injuries on our roads continue to fall, but this report shows that we have to re-emphasise the need to continue with the overall campaign against speed. It is not just about cameras, we have to continue with engineering measures, traffic calming, advertising and speed awareness courses. Manufacturers also need to do more to make it easier for drivers to see what speed their vehicle is doing."
'Road Casualties Great Britain: 2005 - Annual Report ' is available online at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/transtat/casualties 
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