One in five trauma patients is injured on the road, data reveals
One in every five patients admitted to the east of England’s major trauma care units has been seriously injured in a road accident.
The figures, which relate to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and acute units at Ipswich, West Suffolk and Colchester hospitals, have been released during Road Safety Week, which runs until Sunday, to highlight the dangers associated with driving.
The analysis of data by road safety charity Brake relates to the period 2007 to 2017.
The number of road traffic victims is even higher at Addenbrooke’s, the region’s major trauma centre, where one in every two patients has suffered injury in a car or mototcycle crash.
Dr Roderick Mackenzie, Clinical Director at Addenbrooke’s, said road accidents remain the commonest cause of severe and fatal injury in people under the age of 40.
Brake’s analysis found that those aged between 16 and 25 have been involved in the most car crashes – of the 6,587 patients treated for road accident injuries in the east of England over the last decade, 1,389 fell into this age group.
According to anecdotal evidence from health bosses at the region’s hospitals, the number of those seriously injured in car or motorcycle accidents has remained static in the last decade. This is despite numerous campaigns aimed at reducing the volume of serious crashes on our roads.
Last winter, from November to February, the East of England Ambulance Service was sent to 5,081 road crashes, a fall from 5,654 compared to a year earlier.
Pleas for safety on the roads come as temperatures drop and conditions become more hazardous for drivers.
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To find out more, call our personal injury team on 01473 298125 or visit us at one of our offices in either Ipswich, Hadleigh, Melton, Felixstowe or Woodbridge.
