One person a day injured on Jersey roads last year

Friday 15 August 2014

On average one person a day was injured in a road traffic accident in Jersey last year, with one person a week being seriously injured.

Figures just released by the States of Jersey Police reveal 385 people were injured in road traffic accidents in 2013. Of this total, three people were killed, 60 people were seriously injured and 322 suffered minor injuries such as cuts and bruises or whiplash.

Road Safety Officer Philip Blake said: “For a small Island this number is too high.  It is, however, very difficult to compare figures to the UK or to other places because areas are so varied.”

The number of road traffic injuries is up on 2012. During that year a total of 328 injuries were reported, of which 55 were serious, three were fatal and 270 were minor.

Mr Blake said: “With relatively small numbers you get peaks and troughs developing for no particular reason so you can’t really compare figures from year to year.

“One August a few years ago we had a spate of crashes when the weather was really bad. That could have been due to poor visibility, slippy roads, or perhaps even to there being more young drivers on the roads who were less experienced in these conditions.”

Even sporting events can influence Jersey’s accident figures, with the island seeing an increase in cycling accidents after Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 Tour de France.

Over the same period the UK saw a 4% increase in serious injuries to cyclists, and a 10% increase in cyclists being killed. Over half the serious injuries on Jersey’s roads happen to cyclists or motorcyclists.

Mr Blake said: “There was a spike in accidents involving cyclists after Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France, however, overall, accidents involving cyclists are no higher than last year.”

The four principal causes of death and serious injury on island roads are drink driving, not using a seat belt, using a mobile phone and speeding.

In January police officers in Jersey were given new equipment to help them build two or three dimension plans of accident scenes to speed up investigations and allow them to open roads again in less time after a crash.