Safe Driving In Wimborne This Winter Part 3

As part of my research for the previous two articles I looked up the road accident statistics for the area and found a BBC website that listed every fatality on our roads between 1999 and 2010. In total sixty-nine people lost their lives in East Dorset during that period.

In that time there were nine accidents involving fatalities in and immediately around Wimborne town. In total there were nine deaths, six serious injuries, four of the incidents took place in the winter months, two incidents in early spring, three incidents in the height of summer and all of the fatal incidents took place in fine weather conditions.

Only three of the incidents actually took place during the summer, one a motorcyclist and the other a woman run over by a lorry, the rest of them during winter or early spring. I think these statistics go to show that it's not bad weather that is responsible for the majority of accidents, but not taking enough care on treacherous roads during times when road conditions were less than perfect. The weather might be fine, but that doesn't mean the road surfaces are and more care should still be taken when driving during those months when the road surfaces are most affected.

The most interesting statistic for me was that two out of the three pedestrian deaths were in the winter, as well as both of the pedestrian serious injuries.

You can find the BBC website here.