RTC vehicle damage statistics 726/2024
FOI Reference: 726/2024
Request:
A. I would like to know vehicle “damage” statistics for the following stretches of road (from 14/08/2018 until 01/07/2024).
- A485
- B4459
- A482
- A487
- A485 – Tregaron – Llanfarian
B4575 Llanilar to Trawscoed
B4340 Pontrhydfendigaid – Southgate
A4120 – Aber – Ponterwyd
- B4459 – Pencader – Synod INN
B4336 – Llandysul – Llanfihangel
B4336 Llanllwni – Llanfihangel
A486 – Synod Inn – Llandysul
- A475 Newcastle Emlyn – Lampeter
- B4337 Llanwnnen – Llanrhystud
- A482 Lampeter to Llanwrda
B. Additionally, I would like to request “ injury” statistics (Total, Slight, Serious and Fatal) for the following stretches of road (from 14/08/2018 until 01/07/2024).
- Carmarthen to Tregaron A485
- B4459 Windy Corner to Llanfihangel
- B4336 Llanfihangel to Llanllwni
- A482 Lampeter to Aberaeron
- A487 Synod Inn to Aberystwyth
- A485, B4575, B4340, A4120 Tregaron to Aberystwyth
- B4459, B4336, A486 Pencader to Synod Inn
- A475 Newcastle Emlyn – Lampeter
- B4337 (from junction with A482) Lampeter – Aberystwyth
- A482 Lampeter to Llanwrda
Response:
I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold information concerning road traffic collisions as identified below.
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.
I can confirm that the cost of determining whether any information relative to this request is or isn’t held is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond therefore we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12 (2) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.
Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Dyfed Powys Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. The following exemption has been applied to the whole of the information you have requested:
Section 12(2) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit
Section 12(2) states: “…Subsection (1) does not exempt the public authority from its obligation to comply with paragraph (a) of section 1(1) unless the estimated cost of complying with that paragraph alone would exceed the appropriate limit.”
The cost of determining what information is held, if any, relevant to your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the “appropriate level” as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that it would exceed 18 hours (i.e. minimum of 499.9 hours) to comply with your request. The regulations can be located @ www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244
The Freedom of Information Department has been advised that the information in respect of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format. Therefore, in order to establish what information, if any, is held in relation to Part A of the request would require the individual interrogation of all incidents under the category of ‘T-RTC’ over the time frame specified to identify if the incident in question related to vehicle damage, as it does not differentiate between injury and damage only, and for Part B of the request would require the individual interrogation of all collisions that occurred on the road numbers specified, however each one would need reviewing to see if it occurred between the locations specified. It has been established that for the period as specified within there are a total 4628 incidents that would require researching. It has been estimated that it would take a minimum of 10 minutes to research a single incident for relevance to Part A of your request and 3 minutes to research a single incident for relevance to Part B of your request as outlined above, resulting in the following time estimate.
Part A:
A485 = 343 incidents x 10 mins = 57 hours
B4459 = 35 incidents x 10 mins= 5.8 hours
A482 = 212 incidents x 10 mins = 35.3 hours
A487 = 1024 incidents x 10 mins = 170.6 hours
B4575 Llanilar to Trawscoed = 6 incident x 10 mins = 1 hour
B4340 Pontrhydfendigaid – Southgate = 49 incidents x 10 mins = 8 hours
A4120 – Aber – Ponterwyd = 39 incidents x 10 mins = 6.5 hours
B4459 – Pencader – Synod INN = 35 incidents x 10 mins = 5.8 hours
B4336 – Llandysul – Llanfihangel = 22 incidents x 10 mins = 3.6 hours
A486 – Synod Inn – Llandysul = 61 incidents x 10 mins = 10.1 hours
A475 Newcastle Emlyn – Lampeter = 91 incidents x 10 mins = 15.1 hours
B4337 Llanwnnen – Llanrhystud = 179 incidents x 10 mins = 29.8 hours
A482 Lampeter to Llanwrda = 212 incidents x 10 mins = 35.3 hours
Total: 2308 incidents = 383.9 hours.
Part B:
A485 – 296 cases x 3 minutes = 14.8 hours
B4459 – 37 cases x 3 minutes = 1.85 hours
B4336 – 22 cases x 3 minutes = 1.1 hours
A482 – 182 cases x 3 minutes = 9.1 hours
A487 – 1102 cases x 3 minutes = 55.1 hours
A485 – 296 cases x 3 minutes = 14.8 hours
B4575 – 3 cases x 3 minutes = 0.15 hours
B4340 – 57 cases x 3 minutes = 2.85 hours
A4120 – 51 cases x 3 minutes = 2.55 hours
A486 – 71 cases x 3 minutes = 3.55 hours
A475 – 87 cases x 3 minutes = 4.35 hours
B4337 – 116 cases x 3 minutes = 5.8 hours
Total: 2320 incidents = 116 hours
Total of 499.9 hours to complete task
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for the WHOLE of this request under Section 17(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that fact.
You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the time shown above to fall within the 18 hours, however with due regard to the time estimate provided above it is unlikely that refining your request will fall under the 18 hours as the same method and format will have to be undertaken. Should you require any further advice in relation to this matter please don’t hesitate to contact the Freedom of Information Unit.
Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the Force’s right to cite exemptions if relevant.
(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 29/07/2024)