According to Government figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT), 1,752 people were killed in road accidents in 2019. This figure is 2 per cent lower than 2018. However, the DfT attributes this slight fall to natural variation – noting that the number of fatalities has remained much the same since 2010.
Almost 26,000 road users were seriously injured in 2019 and 125,461 were slightly injured.
The Department for Transport writes that there "is no single underlying factor that drives road casualties," but one of the most likely causes is that the responsible driver makes a mistake or displays thoughtless behaviour behind the wheel. This could mean that many of these accidents were caused by people simply failing to look properly.
Every car crash and every car crash injury is unique. You cannot generalise. Within these statistics, many different types of road user are affected, and the exact circumstances surrounding an accident will change the severity of the outcome. A frail elderly person will be affected by a crash in a different way to a healthy adult, while a collision involving a lorry is likely to have very different outcomes to one involving a bicycle and a pedestrian.
The different types of road accident include:
- Accidents to pedestrians – Being knocked down by a vehicle while walking is likely to result in a serious injury. There were 276 pedestrians killed in road accidents in 2019 in the UK – 46 of these fatalities occurred in Scotland.
- Accidents to children – Perhaps not as aware as adults of the road's dangers, children are very vulnerable road users (as pedestrians and as car occupants).
- Accidents to bus passengers – Although Scotland's buses are very safe, accidents do happen. Bus operators have a duty of care to passengers, and if this is breached, then any injured persons should be able to claim compensation.
- Car crashes abroad – An accident abroad can be very alarming, but Thompsons can help victims of accidents overseas to claim compensation.
- Taxi crashes – Taxi drivers spend much more time behind the wheel than the average road user, and therefore are more likely to be involved in an accident.
- Car crashes in winter – Icy conditions and reduced daylight hours can make car accidents more likely to occur.
Make a personal injury claim with Thompsons
If you have been injured in a car crash, it helps to have expert advice from a personal injury claims lawyer who understands the issues involved. Thompsons' compensation solicitors are very experienced in investigating and advising on road accident claims.
We understand that every claim is different and therefore, to enable you to claim the full amount of compensation you deserve, a thorough investigation is needed to determine exactly what happened and how the accident and its consequences have impacted your life.
The easiest way to find out if you are entitled to make a claim is simply to phone us. Call us on 0800 0891 331 and one of our specialist car crash lawyers will be happy to investigate, and advise you on the best way to proceed.
The initial discussion will hopefully help clear up any queries you may have about the claims process, and we have created a No Win No Fee package for those who wish to take matters further, so you don't need to worry about unnecessarily incurring high legal fees.
