The introduction of the penalty points system has reduced the number of road traffic accident injuries seen in a major Dublin hospital, research published today suggests.
According to researchers, the number of road traffic accident (RTA) cases seen at Beaumont Hospital in the six months following the introduction of the penalty points system dropped from 125 to 70 when compared with the same period in the previous two years. This reduction in RTA injuries represents a drop of 44 per cent.
Orthopaedic surgeons Michael Donnelly and Paraic Murray, of Beaumont Hospital, and Susan Cleary, of Tallaght Hospital, analysed figures from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system showing the number of patients discharged following a road traffic accident and the mechanism of injury suffered by each.
Writing in the current edition of the Irish Medical Journal, they note that the orthopaedic trauma service is a sensitive indicator of RTA trauma in Ireland. "We hypothesised that the introduction of the penalty points system had resulted in reduced RTA-related trauma", they said.
The penalty points system was introduced by the Government on October 31st 2002 with the aim of reducing death and injury from road traffic accidents. The National Roads Authority has estimated that fatalities and injuries from road traffic accidents cost €728 million in 2002.
A previous review of trauma cases at a Dublin hospital identified RTAs as the mechanism of trauma-related injury in 84 per cent of patients.
In addition to the significant reduction in overall RTA-related injuries, Mr Donnelly and his colleagues noted a decline in the number of serious head injuries, chest injuries and spinal fractures after the penalty points system came in. However, there was no reduction in the number of lower-limb fractures. They also found a trend towards more injuries in older age groups. Before the introduction of penalty points, 20 per cent of those injured in RTAs were over 40. Following the initiative, older drivers made up 31 per cent of injuries.
Asked to comment on the findings, Mr Donnelly told The Irish Times that while it was known that the HIPE data could underestimate the number of injuries, depending on how these were categorised, the results suggested that the safe-driving message might be getting across to younger drvers. "However, we cannot conclude with certainty that the introduction of the penalty points system has had a greater impact on younger drivers, based on these findings," he said.