TRL study confirms speed-accident link

Road & Transport Research, Jun 2000

A recent report by the Transport Research Laboratory provides further evidence that small reductions in average speeds correspond to significant accident reductions.

The study involved both modelling of speedaccident relationships and behavioural analyses leading to relationships between accident involvement, speed choice and personal characteristics.

As in other work, it was observed that reducing the speed of the fastest drivers would yield the greatest accident benefits. The potential for accident reduction through speed reduction is greater on urban roads than rural roads, it was concluded. Potential accident reductions of up to 4.4 percent for each krn per hour reduction in speed were estimated, the greatest effect being on urban roads where the average speeds are relatively low, but there are wide variations in speeds and pedestrian activity levels are high.

Sources: TRL Report 421 'The effect of drivers' speed on the frequency of road accidents' and TRL Report 440 'The characteristics of speeders', TRL Crowthorne, Bucks.