GLASGOW, Scotland - People who have served in the Armed Forces are more likely to be injured in a road traffic accident than people who have never been in the military, according to a study by the University of Glasgow.


In 2002, research was published in the US showing that people who had been deployed to the Gulf had an increased risk of being involved in a road traffic accident on returning home. Studies in the UK showed that British troops were also at increased risk on return from deployment, and that risky driving was common in people who were serving; in 2006 the Ministry of Defence introduced a new programme of road safety education in response to growing evidence on both sides of the Atlantic of the increased risk of RTAs in military personnel.


Researchers at the University of Glasgow looked at 57,000 veterans in Scotland who were born between 1945 and 1985 and who had a wide range of experience and lengths of service in the Armed Forces over a 50-year period. They found that veterans also had an increased risk of injury in a road traffic accident compared with people who had never served, but the risk was highest in people with the shortest service, including those who had never been deployed.


The highest risk was in people in their 30s, irrespective of the time since leaving service; there was no evidence that the period immediately following discharge was  especially risky. More recent veterans do not appear to be at increased risk, suggesting that the road safety programme is proving effective.


Lead researcher Dr Beverly Bergman said: “This is an important study which has confirmed that there has been an increased risk of road traffic accidents in military veterans which is unrelated to deployment, but it is now reducing.  The high risk in people who have only served for a short time is likely to reflect lifestyle risk factors which are unrelated to their military service.”


The study, which used data from the Scottish Veterans Health Study to examine rates of hospitalisation and death as a result of road traffic accidents, is published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.