An investigation of factors associated with traffic accident and casualty risk in Scotland.

An investigation was conducted to identify factors associated with traffic accident involvement and traffic casualty involvement of road users in Scotland. This wasdone to determine to what extent accident and casualty involvement are related, and so assist policy-makers in the allocation of scarce resources. Traffic accidentinvolvement was identified for Scottish-resident vehicle drivers. Traffic casualty involvement was identified for vulnerable road users, particularly child pedestrians.Traffic accident rates were determined from information provided by approximately one thousand Scottish-resident drivers who completed an extensive questionnaire ondriving behaviours. Their personal characteristics, socio-demographic data, and information on attitudes to road safety issues, were also provided. This broad investigation revealed that traffic accident involvement was found to be associatedwith personal characteristics, driving behaviour, and attitudes to road safety issues. There is no evidence of any area effect on accident involvement of Scottish drivers, in terms of the administrative area in which they live, the relative level ofaffluence/deprivation of the area, or the population density of the area.A detailed statistical analysis of STATS19 traffic accident data was conducted to determine casualty rates for different groups of road user in Lothian, Scotland, for the years 1991-97. This involved the development of a unique index of multipledeprivation suitable for both urban and rural areas. Traffic casualty rates were found to be positively associated with the level of deprivation and the population density atpostcode sector level. Analysis of injury-accident data identified that personal characteristics are also associated with casualty involvement for children aged 0-15years old. As with accident involvement, the influence of behavioural and attitudinal factors on casualty involvement needs to be examined.A significant finding from this study is that traffic accident risk and traffic casualty risk are not associated with the same factors. Place of residence is significant indetermining casualty risk, but has no significant effect on accident risk. Implications from this research are discussed and suitable recommendations are made