BMJ  2004;328:1261 (22 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1261

Letter

Acquiring accurate crash data is important

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Breen highlights the barriers that exist between establishing a risk for serious or fatal road injuries and the willingness of those in authority to assist the investigation or ultimately implement change.¹ Furthermore, acquiring good data on which to establish risk is hampered by a system that is biased in favour of the survivors of crashes, a police force that has little commitment to establishing the facts or releasing the results of their investigations to the relatives of the deceased, and a coroners' court that lacks the determination or authority to question the validity of the police accident report.

Many readers of the BMJ may be unaware of the haphazard way in which data are collected and the poor application of scientific principles to this area of investigation. Undue credibility is given to the statements of survivors, who know that silent (dead) witnesses cannot testify. In the case of . . . [Full text of this article]

Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, Essex CO4 5JL mark.aitken@essexrivers.nhs.uk

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Relevant Article

Road safety advocacy

Jeanne Breen
BMJ 2004 328: 888-890. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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