There has been some speculation that the lower casualties are a result of the current economic climate; with high petrol prices, there are less cars on British roads. This could also explain the rise in personal injury claims, with some people resorting to their accidents for financial gain.

The director of AA Insurance, Simon Douglas, has stated that these figures suggest that “those involved in accidents are much more inclined to make personal injury claims, even for non-serious injuries such as minor whiplash cured by painkillers over a couple of days.”

Last year, there were on average 1,300 whiplash claims each day. It can only be expected that personal injury claims will be significantly higher for this year.

David Green, the chief executive of MTA, specialist lawyers in personal injury, has stated that “the school run is one of the most dangerous times of the day to drive.” With parents fearing for their children’s safety – if they were left to walk to school alone – many parents had included the school run in their morning routine before racing the traffic on their own way to work. Driving under pressure and while distracted had increased the amount of road accidents during the morning hours.

As fuel prices increase within the economic climate, many parents have now been forced to tighten the purse strings. This has led to a considerable number of parents walking their children to school instead.

The most recent figures from the Department of Transport have revealed that the number of children killed or suffering serious personal injury has decreased by 9% on the previous year.

Although Mr Plant, 60, is believed not to have sustained any personal injuries, the other driver, Richard Grant, was knocked unconscious and suffered whiplash due to the incident, which took place on the evening of July 2, 2009.

“I was unconscious for a little while and then I saw him standing there. I was pretty groggy when I saw him, but later on the officers told me who it was,” said Mr Grant, who, somewhat ironically, is a drugs counsellor.

“I went to hospital for five hours and luckily there were no broken bones, but I was badly bruised on the arm and had whiplash.”

Mr Grant’s Mercedes SL 300 was written off following the collision with the famous frontman’s Audi A8. It is unclear who was at fault for the accident, or whether either victim has claimed or will claim for compensation.

The plans reveal that at peak times, the hard shoulder will be used between Brighouse and Rothwell – junctions 25 and 30 respectively – in an attempt to relieve congestion. Emergency lay-bys will then be constructed at regular intervals alongside the hard shoulder to allow for any vehicle breakdowns.

A similar scheme has already been tested on a trial basis on the M42 in the West Midlands. Transport Minister Chris Mole said: “We have been encouraged by results from the hard shoulder running pilot scheme on the M42 near Birmingham which has demonstrated significant reductions in journey times, plus a reduced number of personal injury accidents.”

Work on the ‘Managed Motorway’ scheme on the M62 is expected to start in late 2010 and is estimated to take two years to complete. The Highways Agency also has similar plans for other busy motorways across the country, including parts of the M1 in South Yorkshire and the M60 and M62 in Manchester.

Shelagh Leach, 83, suffered serious personal injury after she was hit by a car outside a petrol station. The driver, Paul Barnard, accidentally mounted the pavement when he swerved to enter the filling station entrance. He then hit Ms Leach and drove off without stopping, leaving her suffering by the roadside.

Barnard was convicted at Hastings Magistrates’ Court of driving without due care and attention. Ms Leach’s solicitors have now started legal proceedings, seeking compensation of between £100,000 and £150,000 from the motorist’s insurance company.

Ms Leach, a retired teacher, spent nearly two months in hospital recovering from the accident. She suffered two broken legs and needed emergency surgery upon arriving at the hospital. Her solicitors claim that before the accident she was healthy and active, but the road accident has since left her traumatised and immobilised by her injuries.

Andrew Singh, 26, his parents and dozens of relatives lodged compensation claims against a Bury-based coach company. One of the coaches they were travelling in was involved in a collision with another vehicle en route to Mr Singh’s wedding in Preston, Lancashire in July 2004. Later another coach they had hired clipped a wall in a car park. Altogether 73 personal injury claims were made, with claimants seeking damages against Hollins Travel for whiplash and other injuries.

However the claim soon began to unravel after video footage from the wedding reception – which went ahead unaffected later that day – revealed many of the supposed sufferers celebrating and dancing.

Tony, the best man, claimed to have badly hurt his wrist in the road accident, but was seen in the video clapping along to music. Mr Singh’s mother had testified that she had suffered a painful injury to her shoulder, but was caught on camera dancing and lifting her arms in the air. The video also showed footage of the groom dancing, waving his arms around and at one point being carried aloft by some of the other guests.

When it transpired that Mr Singh and his father were not even riding in the first coach that crashed, the judge threw out their claims and a criminal investigation was launched.

Mr Singh and his parents, all of Manchester, eventually pleaded guilty to committing perjury and conspiracy to defraud. They each face one year in jail and over £70,000 in costs. Judge David Heaton QC said that he wanted the sentence to act as a deterrent to other potential fraudsters.

“Offences of this type are far too serious to warrant anything other than an immediate custodial sentence,” he said. “Insurance companies in this country are highly vulnerable to the making of fraudulent claims.”

It also emerged that Mr Singh’s bride has subsequently left him after giving evidence against him at the trial.

According to research carried out by More Than, the UK insurance group, 41 per cent of British drivers have never heard of this particular criminal act, which sees fraudsters intentionally causing car crashes in order to claim insurance, often claiming whiplash compensation.

Although it is widely believed that fraudulent claims such as these are currently on the rise in the country due to the on-going recession, the research discovered that over the last two years, incidents have dropped by 11 per cent, mainly as a result of insurance companies and the police making an effort to crack down on the fraudsters.

However, Pete Markey, a spokesperson for More Than, thinks that more people need to make themselves aware of the scam. “If more drivers were made aware of the dangers they are facing, it becomes more likely that they will be able to report anything unusual to their insurance company.”

The research also found that of those involved with such a crash, two-thirds did not realise that it was staged and a further third would not know what to do in such a situation anyway.

If you are involved in a road accident and believe that it could be an attempt of a ‘crash for cash’ scam, you should get in touch with your insurance company immediately and alert them of your suspicions. Not only will they then have your side of the story on file but they will be more prepared to look out for anything out of the ordinary.

Also, in addition to exchanging insurance details with the driver, try to make a note of how many passengers are in their car. For example, if it is a fraudulent claim, they may be claiming whiplash compensation for themselves and three passengers, when they may have only had one passenger when the road accident took place. This will help you to protect yourself from any phantom passenger claims, which could otherwise increase the claim being made against your insurance.

Lastly, this scam can be avoided with safe, careful driving. Always keep a safe braking distance from the car in front, as you will always be liable if they brake suddenly causing you to hit them in the rear, even if you argue that there was nothing causing them to brake. Don’t help them out by driving too close to them, as the fraudsters will be on the lookout for distracted drivers or those who are driving close behind them in the first place.

Road accidents and public liability claims have soared in recent months, as a result of damage to roads caused by the winter’s cold weather. The public themselves have not been helping the situation either, as many people are avoiding servicing their cars in an effort to save money, or in fear that they will be hit with expensive repair and maintenance costs. This has also contributed to the rise in accidents, due to more cars on the road which could be considered as not roadworthy.

There has also been a sharp rise in the number of work accident claims in the country. According to recent research, firms are putting less importance on health and safety regulations, possibly in an attempt to cut costs. However this could work against them if an accident does occur and a compensation claim is made.

Michael Adams, of St Albans, believes he was forced into driving into the back of a car by two conmen who were working together in separate cars.

Whilst driving on a roundabout he saw two cars which he states “appeared to be dithering around”.

When behind one of the vehicles it quickly slammed its brakes on, meaning that Mr Adams could not avoid hitting it as the other car was positioned to take up the only space that could have been used to swerve around the first car.

Mr Adams said: “The man got out of his car and when I asked him why he stopped he said the car in front had braked. The man claimed he did not speak English even though he wrote his name and address for Mr Adams.”

Within a matter of days there were three separate personal injury claims that had been lodged by the first driver and his two passengers. All three claims were seeking whiplash compensation as part of a personal injury claim.

Mr Adams said: “I just want to warn people to be aware if they see cars being driven strangely like these two to keep well back in case they are trying to trap another driver to win big cash payouts.”

The businessman has lost his no claims bonus and will face higher car insurance premiums in the future due to the personal injury claims listed against him. He asked his insurance company to fight the case as he believes the claims are fraudulent but they decided to pay the injured parties.