A study of injuries recorded by police and hospitals was carried out in the course of research on the cost of road accident injuries. Casualty records for road accident patients treated at three hospitals in the Greater Manchester area over a six month period were collected and matched with police road accident records. The data were analysed to identify the incidence of different types of injury and the distribution of injury severity, and to estimate the extent to which police records under-report casualties or mis-classify the severity of their injuries. The report summarises the results, comparing the data recorded by the hospital with that recorded by the police for the national accident statistics. Reasons for the differences between the two sources of information are discussed, and the implications of the results for accident statistics are presented. (A)
Samenvatting