'World first' crash research to give new insights

Road traffic collisions cause 30,000 deaths and serious injuries per year in Britain

A "world first" research project is to combine road crash data with health records to uncover new insights into traffic collisions.

The two-year, £500,000 project will analyse information from ambulances, hospitals, coroners, police and government.

It will focus on the Thames Valley, Hampshire and Dorset. The work is being led by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) at Crowthorne and University Hospital Southampton.

The work is being supported by Tamsyn Berry, who was almost killed in a head-on crash with a lorry on the A303 on Salisbury Plain.

The musician and singer from Cornwall said she owed her life to the crew of Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, who gave her a roadside blood transfusion after she lost half her blood.

"I broke both arms, my left leg, both knees, right foot, punctured my lung, fractured my skull, I had brain bleeds and lost a finger," she said.

She spent two weeks in a coma, followed by many further weeks in hospitals. Four years after the crash, her rehabilitation is ongoing and she requires a carer.

"My left arm is permanently damaged and I used to be a guitarist. I can sing, but because of my brain injury I can't remember the lyrics so I have to read them," she said.

The Romanian driver of the lorry was convicted of careless driving. But Tamsyn said she did not want him to spend time in prison and he was able to return to his home country.

Road traffic collisions cause nearly 30,000 deaths and serious injuries each year in Britain.

As well as the human cost, the economic impact is put at £42bn a year, according to 2023 Department for Transport statistics.

The project is called Data Sustains Life.

Dr Phil Hyde said the Data Sustains Life project would help reduce severe injuries and fatalities on Britain's roads

Dr Phil Hyde, an intensive care consultant at University Hospital Southampton, said: "Tamsyn is an amazing, talented lady. But I would much prefer not to meet her as a patient.

"This data linkage was thought to be impossible. It will allow researchers to identify patterns, risk factors, and critical points for intervention.

"It will help us to reduce the number of severe injuries and fatalities on our roads."

Dr Phil Martin, head of transport safety at TRL, said: "This is a world-leading research project. It is the first of its kind.

"The data has been in different silos. Brought together, it can look in depth at data from the seconds before a crash, all the way through to when a patient is discharged from rehabilitation."

The work will be capable of upgrading to a national level. The ambition is to influence both national policy and global best practice.

Ms Berry is singing again. She performs in three bands around Devon and Cornwall. But the effects of her crash are permanent.

"Research that reduces the likelihood of crashes like mine has got to be a good thing," she said.

"Honestly, if there's a way to prevent anyone going through what I and my family went through, I'm behind it."