Road traffic accidents are a major cause of violent death in Northern Ireland. Since 1969 more than twice as many people have died on Northern Ireland's roads than have died as a result of the security situation. On average over the last five years, road traffic accidents have accounted for approximately one in four of all deaths not due to natural causes and for one in five of all deaths of children aged under is. By the end of 1997, there were almost 700,000 motor vehicles licensed in Northern Ireland. During the year these vehicles travelled over 14,500 million kilometres on our public roads. Over the same period there were 7,192 road traffic injury accidents in which 144 people died and 12,554 people were injured. This report provides a statistical summary of the road traffic injury accidents reported to the police during 1997. It also contains selected data from previous years. (A)
Abstract