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Accident record
10.1 WSP Civils Limited have provided Personal Injury Accident (PIA) data for the approximately 8 mile (12.9 km) long section of the M62 Motorway between Junctions 35 and 34, for the period 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2000.
10.2 When considering the westbound carriageway between Junctions 35 and 34, a total of 24 PIAs have been recorded during this 6 year period. Summary details of these accidents are as follows:
| Year | Number Of Accidents And Their Severity |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 7 (1 x fatal, 2 x serious, 4 x slight), involving a total number of 14 casualties |
| 1996 | 8 (1 x serious, 7 x slight), involving a total number of 11 casualties |
| 1997 | 2 (2 x slight), involving a total number of 3 casualties |
| 1998 | 2 (2 x slight), involving a total number of 2 casualties |
| 1999 | 4 (4 x slight), involving a total number of 8 casualties |
| 2000 | 1 (1 x slight), involving a total number of 1 casualty |
10.3 Of the 24 PIAs recorded:
- 6 occurred in dark conditions, 18 in light conditions;
- In 15 of the accidents the road condition was recorded as dry;
- In 8 of the accidents the road condition was recorded as wet / damp;
- In the remaining accident the road condition was recorded as snow;
- 11 of the 24 PIAs occurred in the months of October - February inclusive;
- 6 of the accidents involved vehicles leaving the carriageway to the nearside (due to various factors including rear impacts and possibly one tyre blow-out event). Of these 6 accidents, 4 resulted in a vehicle impacting with the safety fence located to the nearside of the carriageway.
10.4 The Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions' annual publication "Road Accidents Great Britain" provides average accident rates for UK motorways and other roads. The average accident rate for all personal injury accidents on UK motorways in 1999 was 1.36 accidents per carriageway kilometre. The corresponding accident rate for the 12.9 km section of the westbound carriageway of the M62 Motorway between Junction 34 and 35 was 0.31 accidents per kilometre in 1999 and 0.08 accidents per kilometre in 2000.
10.5 When considering the 6 year PIA data for the westbound carriageway between Marker Posts 147/0 and 146/0 only, (i.e. the 1 kilometre length including Little Heck Bridge, which is adjacent to Marker Post 146/1), it can be seen that no PIAs are recorded.
10.6 Therefore, it can be concluded that the personal injury accident rate for the section of the westbound carriageway of the M62 Motorway around Little Heck Bridge during the 6 year period up to 31 December 2000 (i.e. up to two months prior to the material incident occurring) is less than the national average for motorways and does not warrant any cause for concern.
