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ROAD ACCIDENTS SCOTLAND 1999

Annex B
The Collection of Road Accident Statistics

The Road Accident statistics are compiled from returns made by police forces. For each injury road accident known to have occurred in their areas, the police authorities complete a statistical return (which is called a "Stats 19" return), which provides details of the accident circumstances, separate information for each vehicle which was involved in the accident, and separate information for each person who was injured in the accident. Annex C shows the kinds of information that were collected in the statistical returns in 1999, using examples of forms that could have been used for this purpose. (In practice, each police force uses its own system, often involving the information being keyed into the computer by the officer, or by the clerical staff whom the officer telephones to report the accident, rather than the use of paper forms.) The example forms in Annex C show the kinds of information which were collected with effect from 1999, following the implementation of the changes to the Road Accident Statistics system that were recommended in a Quinquennial Review.

The statistical returns cover all accidents in which a vehicle is involved that occur on roads (including footways) and result in death or personal injury, if they become known to the police. It should be noted that the vehicle need not be moving, and need not be in collision - for example, the returns include accidents involving people alighting from buses. Road accidents in which no-one is injured ("damage only" accidents) are not included in this definition, and the Scottish Executive does not receive statistics of such accidents. This publication therefore cannot give any figures for "damage only" accidents.

Full guidance on the completion of the "Stats 19" statistical returns, including detailed notes and definitions of the coverage of the returns and of the information to be provided in each field, is given in a document produced by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), called "Instructions for the Completion of Road Accident Reports" (which is also referred to as the "Stats 20").

The returns for accidents in Scotland are submitted every month by the police authorities, either directly or with the assistance of a local Council, to the Scottish Executive. All the returns should first be subject to the validity and consistency checks specified in a document called "Procedures for Submitting Road Accident Data to The Scottish Office" (as the Scottish Executive was formerly known). This document is also referred to as the Scottish Edition of "Stats 21". The Scottish Executive also applies these checks, and clears any errors that it finds with the Police authorities. The returns are added to the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics branch’s database, which contains statistical information about all injury road accidents in Scotland since 1979.

The Transport Statistics branch’s records for accidents which occurred on Motorways and A roads are copied to the Network Management and Maintenance Division of the Scottish Executive, which maintains a database of information about trunk roads. From all the Motorway and A road accidents, the ones which occurred on trunk roads are identified using their road numbers and their grid references, and the information about them is put onto the Network Management and Maintenance Division database. The Transport Statistics branch is subsequently informed which of these accidents occurred on trunk roads, and its database is updated accordingly.

Similar returns are made throughout Great Britain. The Scottish Executive sends a copy of the Scottish data to DETR, which holds a database of accident records which covers the whole of Great Britain.

Changes to the "Stats 19" road accident statistics system, which were implemented in 1999

Government statistical surveys are reviewed regularly to ensure that they continue to provide essential information for government, and to reduce, where possible, the amount of "form filling" and other costs of data provision faced by the data suppliers. The collection of road accident statistics data is reviewed every five years by the Standing Committee on Road Accidents Statistics (SCRAS), whose members represent central government, local authorities and police forces.

In 1997, SCRAS consulted many organisations about their ideas for improving the road accident statistics, and subsequently prepared proposals which responded to changes in the needs for data and which could be adopted without increasing costs significantly. The report of the 1997 Quinquennial Review was published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions as DETR Statistics Bulletin number (98) 14 (copies are available from DETR).

The changes which were implemented in 1999 are described in three lists, which appear on subsequent pages:

I. Modifications to Existing Variables
II. New Variables
III. Changes to Definitions.

The tables in this edition of 'Road Accidents Scotland' have been changed, where appropriate, to take account of the new information collected in the statistical returns. However, in some cases, the number of times that a particular code was used in the returns was too few for it to be included as a separate category in the tables of this publication. For example, in 1999, the "Road surface condition" variable was coded "Mud" only 11 times, and the "Type of vehicle" variable was coded "Ridden horse" only 9 times. In such cases, it is not worthwhile amending the relevant tables to show these categories separately. Instead, a fourth list shows how often each code was used for each of the new and modified variables. It should be noted that because some forces implemented the changes during 1999, some of the new codes for those new variables may not have been used by some forces.

I. Modifications to Existing Variables

ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCES RECORD

Carriageway Type or Markings - 1.14
Rename variable:
'Road Type' - 1.14

Relabel value:
1 Roundabout

Junction Detail - 1.16
Remove:
04 Y Junction

redefine:
03 T or staggered junction to include Y junction.

Pedestrian Crossing Facilities - 1.20
Replace variable with two variables:

(a) Pedestrian Crossing - Human Control - 1.20a
0 No crossing facility within 50 metres, or physical crossing facility not controlled by authorised person
1 Control by school crossing patrol
2 Control by other authorised person

(b) Pedestrian Crossing - Physical Facilities - 1.20b
0 No physical crossing facility within 50 metres
1 Zebra crossing
4 Pelican, puffin, toucan or similar non-junction pedestrian light crossing
5 Pedestrian phase at traffic signal junction
8 Central refuge-no other controls
9 Footbridge or subway

Road Surface Condition - 1.23
Add:
6 Oil or diesel
7 Mud

Special Conditions at Site 1.24
Relabel value:
3 Permanent road signing or marking defective or obscured

VEHICLE RECORD

Vehicle Type - 2.5
Remove:
03 Motor scooter
04 Motor cycle
05 Combination
06 Invalid tricycle
07 Other three-wheeled car
10 Minibus / motor caravan
12 Light goods vehicle
13 Heavy goods vehicle

Relabel value:
09 Car
11 Bus or coach (17 or more passenger seats)

Add:
03 Motor cycle 125cc and under
04 Motor cycle over 125cc
10 Minibus (8 - 16 passenger seats)
16 Ridden horse
17 Agricultural vehicles (includes diggers etc)
18 Tram / light rail
19 Goods vehicle 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight (mgw) and under
20 Goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes and under 7.5 tonnes mgw
21 Goods vehicle 7.5 tonnes mgw and over

The resulting revised code-list:

Definition Changes:

Two-wheeled motor vehicles were previously recorded using four categories ('Moped', 'Motor scooters', 'Motorcycles' and 'combinations') but are now recorded using three categories:

• Mopeds;
• Motorcycles with engine capacity 125cc and under; and
• Motor cycles with engine capacity over 125cc (including combinations).

Cars: were defined to include 3 and 4 wheel cars: separate data on 3 wheeled cars is no longer collected

The category formerly used for 'Minibus/motor caravan' (code 10) was changed:

• Minibus: the "code 10" category now covers only minibuses;
• Motor caravans are not identified as a separate category - they are now included with 'Other motor vehicles' (code 14).

As a result, the figures for the categories described in the tables as "minibus" and "other" are on different bases for 1999 and for 1998 and earlier years. The scale of the discontinuity is not known, because the statistical returns do not show how many motor caravans were included under the "minibus" code in 1998 and earlier years, nor how many were recorded under the "other" code in 1999. However, it is likely that the change in the way in which motor caravans are recorded in the statistical returns has contributed to the fall in the "minibus" figures between 1998 and 1999, and the rise in the "other" figures.

Other motor vehicle: now includes motor caravans, electric or petrol driven invalid vehicles and motorised wheel chairs.

Other non-motor vehicle: Include horse drawn vehicles.

Goods vehicles 3.5 tonnes maximum gross weight and under : Include car based vans

Vehicle Location at Time of Accident - 2.9
Replace Variable 2.9 with two variables:

(a) Vehicle Location at Time of Accident - Road - 2.9a
1 Leaving main road
2 Entering main road
3 On the main road
4 On the minor road
(NB - removed: code 5 = on service road)

(b) Vehicle Location at Time of Accident - Restricted Lane/Away From Main Carriageway - 2.9b
0 On main carriageway - not in restricted lane
1 Tram / light rail track
2 Bus lane
3 Busway (including guided busway)
4 Cycle lane (on main carriageway)
5 Cycleway (separated from main carriageway)
6 On lay-by or hard shoulder
7 Entering lay-by or hard shoulder
8 Leaving lay-by or hard shoulder
9 Footway (Pavement)

Definitions:

• Tram/Light Rail Track: Accidents occurring on tram/light rail track, where track forms part of the main highway including sections where track is segregated for tram use only.
• Bus Lane: Lane marked off within main carriageway for use by buses (and possibly other permitted vehicles such as taxis and pedal cycles).
• Busway: Accidents occurring on Busway which forms part of the main highway including sections segregated for Bus (including Guided Bus) use only.
• Cycle Lane: Lane (advisory or mandatory) marked off within main carriageway for use by pedal cycles only.
• Cycleway: Cycleway which forms part of the highway but is separated from the main carriageway. Includes shared access on Footway (or Pavement).
• Footway (Pavement): Footway, for use by pedestrians only, which forms part of the highway but is separated from the main carriageway.

Breath Test - 2.23
Relabel value:
4 Refused to provide
5 Driver not contacted at time of accident
Add:
6 Not provided (Medical reasons)

CASUALTY RECORD

Pedestrian Location - 3.10
Relabel value:
1 In carriageway, crossing on pedestrian crossing facility

Pedestrian Direction - 3.12
Add:
9 Unknown

II. New Variables

ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCES RECORD

Place Accident Reported

This should indicate whether or not the reporting police officer attended the scene of the accident (regardless of where he or she completed the accident report). The codes are:

1 At scene
2 Elsewhere

VEHICLE RECORD

Driver Postcode

To be completed as far as possible if the full postcode is not known. For example, "EH10" should be recorded if the person is known to live in Edinburgh 10 but the full postcode of the home address is not readily available. There are special codes for:

1 Unknown
2 Non UK resident
3 Parked and unattended

Postcode data was collected in "STATS 19" for the first time in 1999, following the 1997 Quinquennial Review. It was accepted that the collection of postcode data would have to be phased in, as such data becomes readily available to the statistical systems from the police administrative systems. Therefore, the data collected in 1999 were not as complete as they may be in years to come. For example, some police forces used the "unknown" code, or left the postcode blank, in many cases; and some police forces did not use the code for "non UK resident" in 1999.

The "straight line" (or "as the crow flies") distance from the home of the driver (or rider) of a vehicle to the place where he/she was involved in an accident has been estimated using the person's home postcode. The grid co-ordinates of the "centre" of the postcode (which were obtained from the General Register Office for Scotland's "postcode directory" file, which covers all postcodes in Scotland) were taken as an approximation to the grid co-ordinates of the person's home, and used in conjunction with the grid co-ordinates for the location of the accident (as supplied by the police) to estimate the distance between the home and the accident location. Obviously, it was not possible to estimate the distance if the postcode was blank or invalid, or coded "unknown". There was a relatively small number of cases in which a Scottish postcode appeared to have been recorded but a distance could not be estimated because there was no matching entry on the postcode directory file. Nor were distances estimated in cases where an English, Welsh or Northern Irish postcode had been entered, or where the code for "non UK resident" had been used.

CASUALTY RECORD

Casualty Postcode:

The same points apply as for "driver postcode" (above). There are special codes for:

1 Unknown
2 Non UK resident

III. Changes to Definitions

Accidents to be reported

Exclude all accidents not on public roads, except accidents in Royal Parks (on roads which motor vehicles are lawfully allowed to use) and on level crossings (if a train is not involved. Exclude accidents to people repairing their vehicle on public road if no other vehicle is involved.

Accident variables:

Location - 1.11

Seek 10 metre Ordnance Survey Grid References wherever possible (it may not be possible to achieve this in - e.g. - remote areas, where there are few landmarks).

Casualty variables:

Casualty Class - 3.6

Pedestrian: Includes people injured away from the highway (eg. in a house or garden) by a vehicle which lost control on the highway.

Severity of Casualty - 3.9

Burns (excluding friction burns) included as Serious Injury

Neck whiplash included as Slight Injury.

IV. New and modified variables: frequency of use of each code in 1999

Pedestrian crossing-Human control

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