Memorandum by the West Yorkshire Transport
and Health Group (RTS 20)
ROAD TRAFFIC SPEED
This memorandum is submitted on behalf of the
West Yorkshire Transport and Health Group. This is an informal
group consisting of representatives from the five Local Authorities
and four Health Authorities in West Yorkshire, together with the
Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds and
the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
Traffic speed is a public health issue. Excessive
speed is a major cause of death and disability, and contributes
to inequalities in health. However the adverse effects of traffic
speed extend beyond injuries.
TRAFFIC SPEED,
INJURY, AND
DEATH
In West Yorkshire there over 100 deaths per
year due to trauma caused by road traffic (West Yorkshire Transport
and Health Group, 2000). As elsewhere in the country, trauma is
the commonest cause of death in children. Over 50 per cent of
all trauma related deaths in people aged between five and 34 in
West Yorkshire are caused by road traffic (ibid). The risk of
road traffic collisions and associated trauma increases exponentially
with speed (McCarthy, 1999). For each 1 per cent increase in speed
there is a 5 per cent increase in mortality. Almost two-thirds
of deaths plus serious injuries in children occur in pedestrians
(MacGibbon 1999). The death rate from a road traffic collision
in children who walk or cycle in Britain is approximately twice
the European average (Jarvis et al, 2001).
There are substantial inequalities between the
social classes in the death rate from road traffic injury, and
these are widening. Although the death rate has fallen in all
social groups in recent decades, the decline in social classes
I and II has been substantially greater than in social classes
IV and V (in whom it was minimal). There is now a four-fold gradient
in mortality between social classes I and V for all road traffic
deaths (McCarthy, 1999), and a five-fold gradient for pedestrian
deaths (MacGibbon 1999, Roberts et al 1998). This is explained
by a number of factors:
— Greater exposure in children in low
income families as they have less access to other modes of transport.
— Speeding is more common in less affluent
areas (MacGibbon 1999).
— Children from low income families
cross more roads (Davis 1999).
— Children from low income families
are more likely to be unaccompanied (MacGibbon 1999).
— Children from low income families
may have less understanding of road safety (ibid).
ADVERSE HEALTH
IMPACTS OF
SPEEDING OTHER
THAN TRAUMA
Road traffic has adverse impacts on health which
extend well beyond the direct effects of trauma in road traffic
collisions. Most of these are exacerbated by traffic speed. Probably
the greatest number of deaths associated with motorised road traffic
are due to the associated physical inactivity. Physical inactivity
is a risk factor for coronary heart disease which the British
Heart Foundation now consider to be even more important than smoking.
Our estimate is that in West Yorkshire approximately 2,500 deaths
from coronary heart disease can be attributed to physical inactivity
(West Yorkshire Transport and Health Group, 2000). One of the
major reasons for reduced physical activity levels is the decline
of walking and cycling which is associated with perception of
danger from fast traffic (Smith and Gurney, 1992).
EXCESSIVE SPEED
REDUCES THE
QUALITY OF
LIFE OF
URBAN RESIDENTS
Fast traffic on urban roads impairs quality
of life in other ways. Access by pedestrians and cyclists, and
in particular those with impaired mobility, may be adversely affected
by fast traffic. Community severance as a result of urban traffic
has been well documented, in relation to both the volume and speed
of traffic (Appleyard and Lintel, 1972). People in higher socio-economic
groups are able to leave areas with heavy or fast moving traffic,
leaving behind those from the lower socio-economic groups. This
further exacerbates the inequality in health. Excess speed also
increases local air pollution and noise levels with adverse affects
on cardiac, respiratory and mental health.
HOW SHOULD
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED
WITH SPEED
BE TACKLED?
Any steps taken to reduce the impact of trauma
associated with road traffic collisions must not be allowed to
exacerbate the other health damaging effects of urban road traffic.
In past years the physical separation of motorised traffic from
cyclists and pedestrians has in many cases resulted in the exclusion
of pedestrians and cyclists from many urban roads. This has discouraged
walking and cycling as a means of transport, and increased community
severance and its associated problems. Our view is that this approach
addresses only one aspect of the deleterious effects of road traffic
speed and volume. We believe that a more comprehensive approach
to urban traffic management is required which would substantially
demote the status of the private car as a means of transport.
This will require a combination of infrastructure measures, public
education, and stricter enforcement of speed limits, particularly
in towns and cities. Some of the opposition to the introduction
of safety cameras could be reduced if the links between the speeding
traffic and the health and well-being of communities were made
more explicit.
It is essential that DTLR take all the health
aspects of transport and traffic management into account in their
strategic planning and not just casualty reduction. Joint working
with the Department of Health could facilitate this.
REFERENCES:
Appleyard D, Lintell M. The environmental quality
of city streets: the residents' viewpoint. American Institute
of Planners Journal, 1972; 38: 84-101.
Davis A. Inequalities in health; road transport
and pollution. In: Gordon D, Shaw M, Dorling D, Davy-Smith D (eds)
Inequalities in health: the evidence. Bristol, Policy Press,
1999, pp170-84.
Jarvis S, Clarke M, Cryer C, Davidson L, Evans
S, Shefiff C, Stone D, Ward H, Yates D. Injury prevention.
London, British Medical Association, 2001.
MacGibbon B. Inequalities in health related
to transport. In: Gordon D, Shaw M, Dorling D, Davy-Smith G (eds)
Inequalities in health: the evidence. Bristol Policy Press,
1999, pp185-95.
McCarthy M. Transport and Health. In: Marmot
M and Wilkinson RG (eds) Social determinants of health.
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp132-54
Roberts I, Diguiseppi C, Ward H. Childhood injuries:
extent of the problem, epidemiological trends, and costs. Injury
prevention, 1998; 4: S10-16.
Smith JD, Gurney A. Community effects of
traffic congestion: a review of the London Assessment Study Data.
Crowthorne, Berks.: Transport Research Laboratory, 1992.
West Yorkshire Transport and Health Group. Health
impacts of Transport in West Yorkshire 2000.
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