The number of pedestrian casualties divided by the population of the area in thousands multiplied by 100.
Motor vehicle traffic accidents are a major cause of preventable deaths and morbidity, particularly in younger age groups. Pedestrian injury death rates for children in social class V are five times higher than for those in social class I, and are higher for boys than girls. There is evidence that some groups, like children, old people and potential cyclists, avoid roads because they are dangerous, which can reduce casualties but lower the quality of life. Ideally, casualty data need to be combined with other information. For example, a rise in journeys on foot and bicycle combined with a fall in accidents would indicate real progress. One of the Department for Transport’s PSA targets is to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain in road accidents by 40 % by 2010 and the number of children killed or seriously injured by 50 % by 2010, compared with the averages for 1994-1998, tackling the significantly higher incidence in disadvantaged communities.
Legacy unique identifier: P01048