The RAC foundation, the research arm of Britain’s largest motoring organisation has issued a call to the government to establish expert road crash investigation teams similar to those already used on the railways, at sea and in the aviation industry. It (the foundation) claims lessons from road traffic accidents are not being learned as too few specialist investigations are being carried out into why accidents have happened.
The report contrasts the 45 people killed a year in the UK in air, sea and rail accidents with the nearly 3,000 that lose their lives in accidents on the road. Whilst road accident investigation is currently the responsibility of the police service, author of the report Dr Chris Elliot says a specialist agency should be set up to take a wider look at direct and indirect causes of road accidents.
When the Grayrigg rail crash occurred in Cumbria back in 2007, a full investigation was launched into how the accident happened and how it had led to the death of one of the passengers on the train. This investigation produced a 250 page accident report and made 29 separate safety recommendations. Yet when a bus crashed in August last year near the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, also resulting in the death of someone on board, there was no investigation into the causes of the accident. Cases such as these highlight the disparity in accident investigation between the different forms of transport.
Here at Camps we closely follow any developments in the news relating to car accidents and road safety. As specialist road accident lawyers Camps Solicitors deal with thousands of road traffic accident claims each year.
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