IMPROVING THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF ROAD ACCIDENT RISK

Abstract The biggest killer of young adults is road accidents, yet the enormity of the problem does not seem to impinge significantly on the public consciousness, mainly because perception of risk on the road is faulty. The way in which road accident data are conventionally presented does little to correct this misconception. In this paper, life table theory has been adapted to calculate the chance of a sixteen year old male being killed or injured in a road accident before the age of twenty‐five years. This statistic, one chance in five, can be understood more readily and personalized and used as a basis to correct faulty risk perceptions, which in turn will lead to greater acceptance of legislative and behavioural countermeasures.