My ability to fall down a data rabbit hole is generally known. This week’s Alice moment resulted from various newspapers quoting the latest RoSPA report, which screamed that the UK is “walking into an accident crisis!” The Welsh newspapers warned me that accident numbers were up 42%, whilst the Scottish news - never ones to be outdone - told me that the Scots are more likely to die in accidents than the rest of the UK, with accidental poisoning as a cause of death being 139% higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK!
The report informed one - as all good reports of this type should - of several probable causes for Scotlkand’s accidental plight. They suggested that the high numbers were due to the “…rugged terrain and wetter conditions, and potentially higher proportions of people living in flats or apartments.” So it doesn’t matter whether you’re a crofter or living in a high-rise block off Sauchiehall Street; you’re still doomed. Even if you try to traverse the rugged terrain in a car, it transpires that you are 166% more likely to be killed in an accident driving on Scottish roads than elsewhere, while pedestrians are 96% more likely to be killed and motorcyclists are 51%.
Inevitably, we were presented with the cost to the NHS (£6bn pa), always a precursor for an earnest demand for an other quango, in this case a plea for, “…the Government to create a “National Accident Prevention Strategy” to save lives, boost the economy and free up capacity in the NHS.”
This brilliant response provided valuable insight into the Scottish government's thought process:
“We continue to work with partners to help reduce and prevent unintentional harm and injury, with a particular focus on groups most at risk—babies and children under five, people over 65, and those living in the most deprived communities. NHS Inform provides information on how to prevent falls by identifying hazards at home and we are supporting the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to deliver the Scottish Government’s Water Safety Action Plan to prevent deaths from drowning with funding of £98,000 per year.”
Phew - panic over…. sorry correction run for the hills, because there us much worse to come.
The number of motorists over 70 involved in traffic collisions has hit an all-time high, data analysed by The Telegraph
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