More than half the UK population regularly fails to consider the safety of others as they go about their daily business, new research for Injury Prevention Week (2-6 August) has revealed.
“Most people don’t seem to consider if their actions could injure other people during their day-to-day activities, like driving or maintaining their houses or running their businesses,” said Mike Benner, chief executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) which hosts Injury Prevention Week every year.
YouGov research commissioned by APIL found that only 44 per cent of people “always” or “often” think about their impact on the safety of others when undertaking regular activities.
“For the past 18 months we have all been asked to take extraordinary precautions to keep each other safe from coronavirus. You could be forgiven for hoping that the mindset of caring for others might extend beyond the pandemic, but this research suggests the opposite is true,” said Mr Benner.
“Accidents will always happen, of course, but far too many injuries are caused by the negligence of people who have failed to consider how their actions can affect the safety of other people.
“There were 564,359 personal injury claims registered last year in Britain*. That is more than six Wembley stadiums packed with people who have suffered needless injuries. Some of those injuries will almost certainly have a devastating impact on people and their families, the NHS and the economy,” he said.
“That’s why we’re going back to basics this Injury Prevention Week. We are calling on everyone to think about their role in reducing needless injuries. The simple act of thinking about the impact of our activities on other people is not rocket science. It’s common sense.”