Improvements in medical care and technology and reductions in traffic-related fatalities in Great Britain



Introduction

Traffic-related fatalities in Great Britain have decreased by about 45% over the last 20
years dropping to a current level of about 3500 fatalities per year. Great Britain now has one
of the lowest traffic-related fatality rates per capita and per kilometer traveled of any
industrialized nation. Serious injuries currently total about 40,000 per year and have
experienced a similar reduction in the last 20 years. Total casualties, which include slight
injuries, still total about 300,000 per year. Overall, this represents large costs to society and
the UK National Health Service (NHS). The UK government has recently proposed a further
40% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries between 2000 and 2010 (DETR, 2000).

The transport and safety community has traditionally attacked the problem of traffic
fatalities from three different angles. Motor-vehicle safety regulations have dramatically
improved the crash-worthiness of vehicles, traffic engineers have designed safer and more
efficient roads, and educational efforts have attempted to improve driver awareness especially
of the risks of driving while intoxicated. Downward trends in fatality rates suggest that these
approaches are at least correlated with reductions in traffic fatalities implying that they have
been effective. Broughton et al. (2000) estimate that only 13% of the UK fatality reductions
can be attributed to these types of measures. Other factors must be playing a major role in
reducing overall fatalities. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of
improvements in medical care and technology while controlling for many of the other factors
associated with reducing fatalities.

The role of medical technology has been examined using US data (Noland, 2001a)
and international data for industrialized countries (Noland, 2001b). Results from these prior
studies have found that various proxy measures of improvements in medical technology are
statistically significant and associated with reduced fatalities. A similar result is found for the
British data which is analyzed here.



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