3. Reported numbers of Accidents (Table 1)
3.1 Table 1 shows the downward trend of injury road accidents recorded by the police since 1989. In 2011, there were 9,969 accidents in which someone was killed or injured, 3 per cent fewer than in 2010. There were 176 fatal accidents in 2011 13 (7%) fewer than in 2010 and the lowest number since records of fatal accidents began in 1970. In 2011, there were 1,669 serious injury accidents - a decrease of 43 (3%) on 2010 - and 8,124 slight injury accidents reported in 2011 - 3 per cent fewer than 2010 - the lowest since current records began.
Table 1: Injury Road Accidents by Severity, 1970 - 2011
|
Fatal |
Serious |
Fatal and Serious |
Slight |
All Severities |
| 1970 |
758 |
7,860 |
8,618 |
13,515 |
22,133 |
| 1975 |
699 |
6,912 |
7,611 |
13,041 |
20,652 |
| 1980 |
644 |
7,218 |
7,862 |
13,926 |
21,788 |
| 1985 |
550 |
6,507 |
7,057 |
13,587 |
20,644 |
| 1990 |
491 |
5,237 |
5,728 |
14,443 |
20,171 |
| 1996 |
316 |
3,315 |
3,631 |
12,442 |
16,073 |
| 1997 |
340 |
3,312 |
3,652 |
12,994 |
16,646 |
| 1998 |
339 |
3,318 |
3,657 |
12,862 |
16,519 |
| 1999 |
285 |
3,209 |
3,494 |
11,921 |
15,415 |
| 2000 |
297 |
3,007 |
3,304 |
11,828 |
15,132 |
| 2001 |
309 |
2,840 |
3,149 |
11,575 |
14,724 |
| 2002 |
274 |
2,684 |
2,958 |
11,385 |
14,343 |
| 2003 |
301 |
2,495 |
2,796 |
11,121 |
13,917 |
| 2004 |
283 |
2,331 |
2,614 |
11,305 |
13,919 |
| 2005 |
264 |
2,252 |
2,516 |
10,922 |
13,438 |
| 2006 |
293 |
2,257 |
2,550 |
10,560 |
13,110 |
| 2007 |
255 |
2,049 |
2,304 |
10,202 |
12,506 |
| 2008 |
245 |
2,242 |
2,487 |
9,671 |
12,158 |
| 2009 |
196 |
1,998 |
2,194 |
9,362 |
11,556 |
| 2010 |
189 |
1,712 |
1,901 |
8,394 |
10,295 |
| 2011 prov. |
176 |
1,669 |
1,845 |
8,124 |
9,969 |
Accidents can involve more than one casualty; casualty numbers are presented in table 2.