❓ Hon Lynn MacLaren questions the Minister for Road Safety regarding discrepancies in reported bicycle accident statistics, specifically the use of police-reported figures versus hospital inpatient data. The Minister acknowledges the differences and explains potential reasons for underreporting to police.
AnsweredQoN 1304Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
BICYCLE RIDERS — ACCIDENTS
1304. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Attorney General
representing the Minister for Road Safety:
(1) The Minister
for Road Safety cited in the second reading debate of the Road Traffic
Amendment (Keeping Safe Distances from Bicycles) Bill 2014 that the number of
persons seriously injured riding a bicycle in 2012 was 126. Can the minister
provide figures for 2013?
(2) As the report
entitled ''Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2012'' also
provides figures for bicyclist hospital inpatients in 2012, which totalled 556,
please explain why only the significantly lower police report figure was cited
in the second reading debate?
(3) Was the
minister underestimating the need for safe cycling laws by choosing figures
that grossly misrepresent the impact of unsafe conditions for cyclists on WA
roads?
1304. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Attorney General
representing the Minister for Road Safety:
(1) The Minister
for Road Safety cited in the second reading debate of the Road Traffic
Amendment (Keeping Safe Distances from Bicycles) Bill 2014 that the number of
persons seriously injured riding a bicycle in 2012 was 126. Can the minister
provide figures for 2013?
(2) As the report
entitled ''Reported Road Crashes in Western Australia 2012'' also
provides figures for bicyclist hospital inpatients in 2012, which totalled 556,
please explain why only the significantly lower police report figure was cited
in the second reading debate?
(3) Was the
minister underestimating the need for safe cycling laws by choosing figures
that grossly misrepresent the impact of unsafe conditions for cyclists on WA
roads?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The number is 131.
(2)–(3) For
vulnerable road users, there are considerably more hospital admissions recorded
than the corresponding number of police–reported hospitalisations.
These road users tend to under report their crashes to police yet may still
require treatment in hospital for their injuries. This may be because they may
not be aware they are required to report the crash to police, they may not be
able to report their crash, or they may choose not to report the crash. Also,
some of the cyclist serious injuries recorded in the hospital inpatient data
may have occurred off-road but may have been classified as on-road due to
incorrect or insufficient information being provided when the patient was
admitted. The Office of Road Safety acknowledges the differences between the
hospital and police crash data and publishes the hospital admission data
annually in its online crash book for comparison.
some notice of the question.
(1) The number is 131.
(2)–(3) For
vulnerable road users, there are considerably more hospital admissions recorded
than the corresponding number of police–reported hospitalisations.
These road users tend to under report their crashes to police yet may still
require treatment in hospital for their injuries. This may be because they may
not be aware they are required to report the crash to police, they may not be
able to report their crash, or they may choose not to report the crash. Also,
some of the cyclist serious injuries recorded in the hospital inpatient data
may have occurred off-road but may have been classified as on-road due to
incorrect or insufficient information being provided when the patient was
admitted. The Office of Road Safety acknowledges the differences between the
hospital and police crash data and publishes the hospital admission data
annually in its online crash book for comparison.
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