Veterans ‘more likely’ to be in a road traffic accident

VETERANS are more likely to be injured in a road traffic accident than people who have never been in the military, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow looked at 57,000 veterans in Scotland who were born between 1945 and 1985.

The veterans had a wide range of experience and lengths of service in the Armed Forces over a 50-year period.

They found that the risk of be- ing injured in a traffic accident 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 they had left service, and there was no evidence that the period immediately following discharge was especially risky.

Researchers found that more recent veterans do not appear to be at increased risk, suggesting the Ministry of Defence (MoD) road safety programme is proving effective.

Previous studies have found that risky driving is common among serving personnel and the new research suggests this may persist after leaving the forces.

The report stated: “The increase in risk in veteran car drivers accords with earlier research showing increased prevalence of risky driving behaviour in serving personnel and suggests that this pattern persists into post-service life.”

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.”