Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Road accident statistics are collected from information about personal injury road accidents and their consequent casualties, to a common national standard. The aim of collecting and publishing national road accident statistics is to inform public debate and to provide the basis for determining and monitoring effective road safety policies to reduce the road accident casualty toll. They are an essential requirement for monitoring targeted reductions in road accident casualties. The credible monitoring of targeted reductions requires that data are reported consistently and accurately, and both national and local government, and local reporting police forces, work closely to achieve a common reporting standard. Users should note that for 1985-1991, and from 2002 onwards, the Vehicle Record file does not contain breath test data. This change has been made in order to protect confidentiality. Data for 1985-1990 were deposited at the Archive at the beginning of 2006. Prior to this, the Archive only held the Road Accident Data series from 1991 onwards. No extra documentation was available for the 1985-1990 data, so users are advised to consult the documentation for the 1991 survey. Further information about the Road Accident Data series and research based on it may be found on the government road accidents and safety statistics webpages. These studies comprise information gathered using STATS19 and STATS20 forms.
The second edition of the dataset (May 2001) includes information on location of accident (Easting/Northing, Road Number etc.) not previously deposited with the UK Data Archive. For full details of changes, please see READ file and documentation.
Main Topics:The collection process for these data includes the recording of details about the accident, together with the vehicles and casualties involved, which in principle can be easily discerned by the police either at the scene of the accident, or when they are reported to the police at a later date after the accident. The details recorded include accident time, date and location; vehicle type, location and manoeuvre; driver details; casualty details and severity.
No sampling (total universe)
Transcription of existing materials
every road accident on the public highway, which includes human injury or death, is recorded on a 'STATS19' report form by police officers in Great Britain. In England, within each local area, STATS19 data are collated by a central unit referred to as a Local Processing Authority (LPA) which can be managed directly either by the police or local authority, or be subcontracted to a private consultancy. In Scotland and Wales, the Scottish Government (formerly the Scottish Executive) and the National Assembly for Wales (formerly the Welsh Office) act as an LPA for these purposes. After validation, the LPA makes the data available to both the DfT and the local highway authority. Data are submitted regularly to DfT on electronic media to an agreed timetable.
