Drivers

Last year, the UK saw 37.9 million vehicles licenced for use on the roads (Department for Transport, March 2018). A further 854,000 were added in the first quarter of 2018 alone.

Drivers in Merseyside are not immune to this growth in vehicle numbers. Many vehicles are privately owned, mainly used for work purposes, for public transport or for road maintenance.

Drivers in Merseyside

In 2018 in Merseyside, there were 498 people killed or seriously injured on our roads. The majority of whom were the most vulnerable – children, the elderly, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians. Virtually all of these incidents involved a motor vehicle and a driver.

But these incidents do not happen by accident. They are usually the end result of someone’s mistake, typically:

These factors are often referred to as ‘The Fatal Five’ but it is the drivers who fail to look properly for other road users who account for most collisions and casualties.

We have identified the road users who are most at risk of becoming a road casualty in Merseyside. The most vulnerable on our roads are:

Keeping people safe on our roads is a challenge. It cannot be addressed by Merseyside Road Safety Partnership alone. It requires the cooperation of the most important person of all – the driver.

Road users most at risk of becoming a casualty

  • Senior Road user
  • Pedestrian
  • Cyclist
  • Motorcyclist
  • Young, inexperienced drivers
  • Children

There is substantial financial cost each time a casualty occurs as a result of a road traffic collision. This is due to emergency services provision, insurance and admin, human costs, as well as many more factors which are considered. In Merseyside alone, 2013–17, there was an estimated cost exceeding £1bn, which demonstrates how economically vital it is to reduce our road traffic casualties.

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