THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1983
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DROP IN FATAL, SERIOUS TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
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THE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS CAUSING DEATH OR INJURY DURING THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1983 DROPPED BY 10.7 PER CENT WHEN COMPARED WITH THE FIGURE FOR THE CORRESPONDING QUARTER LAST YEAR.
REVIEWING TRAFFIC ACCIDENT STATISTICS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR/TRAFFIC, MR ERIC MCCOSH, TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY (THURSDAY) THAT THE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING CASUALTIES FOR THE PERIOD STOOD AT 4 295, A DECREASE OF 514 OVER THE SAME QUARTER IN 1982.
FATAL TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS FELL FROM 108 TO 77, SERIOUS INJURY ACCIDENTS DROPPED FROM 2 173 TO 1 568 WHILE THOSE INVOLVING MINOR INJURY INCREASED FROM 2 528 TO 2 650.
CASUALTIES FOR THE QUARTER AGAINST THE SAME QUARTER IN 1982 DECREASED FROM 6 356 TO 5 828, A DROP OF 8.3 PER CENT, MR MCCOSH SAID.
THE NUMBER OF PERSONS KILLED FELL FROM 110 TO 85, THOSE SERIOUSLY INJURED FROM 2 547 TO 1 902 WHILE THOSE SLIGHTLY INJURED HAS RISEN FROM 3 699 TO 3 841.
**WE CAN THEREFORE REPORT THAT OUR STATISTICS, BOTH IN THE NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS AND THE NUMBER OF CASUALTIES, ARE DOWN FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE QUARTER, WHICH IS ENCOURAGING, BUT THESE ARE JUST STATISTICS AND I WOULD SUGGEST WE HAVE A CONSIDERABLE WAY TO GO TO IMPROVE OUR ACCIDENT RECORD, MR MCCOSH SAID.
**ACCIDENTS DO NOT JUST HAPPEN, THEY ARE CAUSED, USUALLY BY ONE OF THE PARTIES INVOLVED, A MOMENT OF CARELESSNESS, INATTENTION OR AGGRESSIVENESS.
''BUT THAT MOMENT OF INDISCRETION AFFECTED 5 828 PERSONS LAST QUARTER, SOME OF THEM UNFORTUNATELY, PERMANENTLY, HE NOTED.
TURNING TO VEHICLES INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, MR MCCOSH NOTED THAT PRIVATE CARS REMAINED THE PREDOMINANT CLASS. THEY WERE INVOLVED IN 32.5 PER CENT OF ALL ACCIDENTS AS COMPARED WITH 38.7 PER CENT IN THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR.
FATAL ACCIDENTS INVOLVING PRIVATE CARS FELL FROM 44 TO 33. SERIOUS INJURY FROM 1 171 TO 687 AND SLIGHT INJURY FROM 1 476 TO 1 274.
GOODS VEHICLES WERE INVOLVED IN 17.4 PER CENT OF ALL ACCIDENTS AS COMPARED WITH 14.3 PER CENT IN THE SAME QUARTER LAST YEAR. FATAL ACCIDENTS INVOLVING GOODS VEHICLES DROPPED FROM 24 TO 23, WHILST SERIOUS ACCIDENTS FELL FROM 424 TO 389. SLIGHT INJURY ACCIDENTS INCREASED FROM 547 TO 654.
/TAXIS WERE
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