Vägtrafikskador 2003 - Transportstyrelsen

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Brief description
Statistics on traffic accidents are based on information from the police on road traffic accidents
resulting in personal injury. The report includes information for 2003 and previous years. Information
from the police about accidents is collected and registered by the National Road Administration.
The Swedish Institute for Transport and Communication Analysis, SIKA, is the authority
responsible for the official statistics on traffic accidents, which are produced by Statistics Sweden
on behalf of SIKA.
The aim of “Road traffic injuries 2003” is to give a clear picture of the traffic safety situation and
how it is changing. This report on road traffic accidents deals with different kinds of accidents, for
instance, single car accidents and accidents involving more than one motor vehicle. Furthermore,
accidents involving motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. have been separated out and
are reported separately.
As from the year of 2003 Vägverket has changed system for the subscription and working of road
traffic accident statistics. The new system Swedish TRaffic Accident Data Acquisition
(STRADA) collect data from both the police and medical care. This report are focused on the
accidents reported by the police. The statistics from the medical care are described in Appendix 1.
The rearrangement implies some changes for example in how the type of accident are registrated.
In account of that the results among type of accident before and after 2003 must be compared
with a certain caution.
Summary in English
In 2003, 18 365 road traffic accidents involving personal injury (including fatal, severe and slight
injury) were reported by the police. In these accidents 529 persons were killed, 4 664 were
severely injured and 20 439 slightly injured. In comparison with the previous year, the number of
accidents involving personal injuries and fatalities has increased in Sweden.
The number of persons killed, relative to the number of cars in use, has fallen considerably since
1985; but it has been more or less unchanged in the last eight years. In relation to the population,
a gradual reduction has occurred. The number of persons severely injured relative to the number
of cars in use shows a gradual decline until year 2001; thereafter there has been an increase. A
comparison to the population shows a similar trend. The number of slightly injured persons has
increased in relation to the number of cars and the population in the recent 20 years. The number
of persons severely or slightly injured has increased in comparison with the total travelled
distance for all motor vehicles, except for motor cycles since year 2000.
Of all road traffic accidents with fatal or severely personal injuries reported by the police nearly
one third have been single accidents. There were 1 298 accidents involving only one motor
vehicle. These are not only the most common type of accidents, they also account for the most
serious injuries compared to other accidents. Of the 1 298 accidents that occurred in 2003, 151
ended in fatalities.
Accidents between motor vehicles accounted for more than 33 per cent of all accidents with fatal
or severely personal injuries. 198 of these accidents ended in fatalities, which is nearly 43 per cent
of all fatal accidents in road traffic.