Road Safety as a Public Health Issue in The North West

28 January 2011

The North West Regional Directors of Public Health have published research showing that the North West has a significantly higher road casualty rate than the average across the rest of England.

The report “Road traffic collisions and casualties in the North West”, collates data from five areas: STATS19 police incident information, the North West Ambulance Service, accident and emergency attendances, and hospital admissions and mortality data. Its aim is to support local decision-making and inform the development of local plans to reduce the risk of injury and death from road traffic collisions.

There are summary reports for each local authority in the North West, with suggestions to reduce the number of casualties, including the introduction of 20 mph speed limits in some areas.

The 20’s Plenty For Us campaign suggests that 140 killed or seriously injured child casualties could have been prevented annually between 2004 - 2008, if residential 20 mph speed zones had been introduced across the region.