Road Traffic Accidents reduce, but it's a long time before they will be forgotten

Unfortunately, being a safe, competent driver doesn’t protect you from road traffic accidents. Each and every day people become victims of road traffic accidents; suffering life-changing or fatal injuries, all because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Numbers of injuries and fatalities through road traffic accidents are falling however. The government is continuously setting tough targets to local authorities to improve their road network; implementing a number of safety measures to protect those who use them.

In 2008, fatalities from road traffic accidents fell 14% on 2007, from 2,946 to 2,538. In addition, the Police received information about 28,572 people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents – 7% down on the previous year.

Cities such as Nottingham are leading the way in improving road safety. A total of 70 improvements on the East Midlands city’s roads have meant a drop of deaths and serious injuries in road traffic accidents, from 695 to 637 in the space of one year. The city is currently 2 years ahead of schedule when it comes to meeting road safety targets set to them by the government.

Despite the attempts of governments and local authorities to improve road safety, people are still being killed or seriously injured through road traffic accidents. Along with new increased measures, including slower speed limits, speed cameras and better maintenance of roads, cars are also becoming much more safe and sturdy in the way they are built. This in itself would bring down the numbers of seriously injured in road traffic accidents.

The fact then that motorists are still dying on the roads then begs the question what else can be done to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by a much greater figure? The reality is, despite cars becoming safer, they are also becoming faster. This means that some eager drivers are using them to get places quicker; in turn endangering themselves and other road users.

New government targets aim to reduce road deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents dramatically by 2020 based on average figures from 2004-2008. These include reducing deaths and serious injuries by 33% each, and for those under 18 this figure is 50%.

Although the targets are now in place, and are likely to be met, this does not establish how people’s driving habits are going to change in order to wipe out deaths and serious injuries through road traffic accidents completely.

In the mean time, if you are injured in a road traffic accident, there are people who can help get you the compensation you are entitled to. Road traffic accident compensation is intended to ease the financial difficulties encountered through your recovery period, and help to make a difference to your life if injured more seriously on a long-term or permanent basis.

Make sure you get an experienced, established personal injury claims company to make your road traffic accident claim on your behalf. This way, you are more likely to receive the maximum amount of road traffic accident compensation available to you, which will greatly ease your recovery process.