National statisticsReported road casualties Great Britain, annual report: 2021Published 29 September 2022

About this release.
This release provides the number of personal injury road traffic casualties in Great Britain that were reported by the police to the Department for Transport in 2021 using the STATS19 reporting system.

This report focuses on severity, road user group, age and sex of these casualties, compared with previous years and over the last decade (that is, since 2011). Other variables and a longer time series are available in accompanying data tables, via our interactive casualty dashboard, data download tool and open dataset.
Changes to road casualty statistics.
Alongside this publication we have implemented a number of changes, including to terminology (referring to collisions rather than accidents) and to the accompanying data tables. Details of the changes are summarised in our response to user feedback.
We continue to welcome any feedback on the statistics, by email to the road safety statistics team
Headline figuresImpact of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Recent trends in reported road casualties have been impacted by the national restrictions implemented from March 2020 onwards following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including periods of lockdown during 2021. More details about the coronavirus restrictions can be found in Coronavirus: a history of English lockdown laws (England only) and in our release the impact of lockdown on reported road casualties in Great Britain. As these figures are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK, this should be considered when comparing across time periods.
In 2021, road casualties showed signs of a return to pre-pandemic trends, increasing compared to 2020 when casualty numbers were low, largely as a result of periods of lockdown resulting in a reduction in road traffic.
As the first half of 2021 also had a lockdown, the overall figures for 2021 remain lower than pre-pandemic levels. Over the second half of the year, both casualties and traffic returned to levels similar to those in 2019. Monthly changes in casualties during 2021 generally showed a similar trend to changes in motor vehicle traffic levels.
These final statistics show:

• an estimated 1,558 reported road deaths in 2021, a decrease of 11% from pre-pandemic levels (2019)
• a rate of 5.2 fatalities per billion vehicle miles in 2021, a higher rate compared with 2019 and a lower rate compared with 2020
• an estimated 27,450 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in 2021, a decrease of 11% compared to 2019, with a casualty rate of 91 KSIs per billion vehicle miles, a similar rate compared with 2019
• an estimated 128,209 casualties of all severities in 2021, a decrease of 16% compared to 2019, with 425 casualties per billion vehicle miles, a lower rate compared with 2019

Considering the different road user types and demographics, the statistics show:

• there was an increase in casualties for all main road user types in 2021 compared with 2020
• pedal cyclists showed a reduction in fatalities (21%) following a large increase associated with the pandemic - the opposite pattern to other road user types
• there are age and sex differences in casualty trends, with female fatalities aged 70 and over showing a particularly large reduction compared with prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (43% reduction in 2021 compared with 2019)

Things you need to knowSeverity adjustmentThe figures in this release for injured casualties are based on adjusting figures reported by the police to take account of changes in the reporting of injury severity by some police forces in recent years. These adjusted figures can reliably be used to compare trends over time across the country. More details can be found in our severity adjustments guidance.
Data coverageThere is no obligation for people to report all personal injury collisions to the police. These figures, therefore, do not represent the full range of all collisions or casualties in Great Britain. All collisions reported by the police and that occurred on a public highway involving at least one motor vehicle, horse rider or pedal cyclist, and where at least one person was injured, are included in these statistics. More information on STATS19, how road traffic casualty data is collected and how these figures are produced can be found in the accompanying guidance.
Overall casualties and casualty ratesThis report considers casualty patterns both in terms of absolute counts and in terms of casualty rates taking into account distance travelled. Casualty rates are calculated by dividing counts by vehicle or pedestrian mileage.
Casualties by severityCasualties are broken down into fatalities (people killed in road collisions), and those injured (further split into seriously and slightly injured based on type of injury sustained). Killed and seriously injured casualties are commonly grouped together as ‘KSIs’.
Where police forces have adopted injury-based reporting, a more detailed severity breakdown and information on type of injury is available. Initial statistics on this are provided in our injury severity factsheet.
While comparison with death registrations shows that figures for fatalities are largely complete, it has long been known that non-fatal (and particularly slight) casualties are underreported to the police. Therefore, the total number of injuries is likely to be an underestimate. We have no reason to believe that the level of under-reporting has changed over time, though the introduction of online reporting of casualties may have some impact. Further information is available in the quality section below.
Chart 1 shows the trend in road casualties by severity over the last decade. Trends in road casualties are affected by a wide range of factors, with recent years impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the decade prior to the pandemic in 2020, fatalities had been broadly stable.
Figures for a longer time period are available in table RAS0101 and analysis of longer term trends in fatalities is available in our 2019 annual report.
In 2021:

• there were an estimated 1,558 fatalities in reported road collisions, a 7% increase compared with 2020 and 11% below the 2019 level
• of all severities, fatalities showed the smallest increase compared with 2020
• there were an estimated 27,450 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, a 14% increase compared with 2020 and 11% below the 2019 level
• of all severities, seriously injured (adjusted) showed the largest increase compared with 2020
• there were an estimated 128,209 casualties of all severities, a 11% increase compared with 2020 and 16% below the 2019 level

Chart 1: Reported road casualties by severity, and motor traffic, in Great Britain, 2011 to 2021 RAS0201
Table 1: Reported road casualties by severity in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0201
Severity2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Killed1,5587-11-18
Seriously injured (adjusted)25,89214-11-24
KSI (adjusted)27,45014-11-24
Slightly injured (adjusted)100,75910-18-40
All casualties128,20911-16-37Casualty rates by severityThe patterns in casualty numbers shown above largely reflect changes in traffic patterns, therefore overall casualty rates have remained broadly stable over recent years (Chart 2). This indicates that the reductions in casualties have been associated with reductions in traffic, largely during periods of COVID-19 lockdown.
Over the past decade, casualty rates in general fell steadily prior to 2020, with larger reductions in injured casualties than fatalities. This was a period where vehicle traffic increased steadily.
In 2021 there were:

• an estimated 5.2 fatalities per billion vehicle miles, compared to 5.4 in 2020 and 5.1 in 2019
• an estimated 91 KSIs per billion vehicle miles, compared to 89 in 2020 and 91 in 2019
• an estimated 425 casualties of all severities per billion vehicle miles, compared to 426 in 2020 and 448 in 2019

Chart 2: Reported road casualties per billion vehicle miles by severity in Great Britain, 2011 to 2021 RAS0201
Table 2: Reported road casualties per billion vehicle miles by severity in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0201
Severity2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Killed5-41-16
Seriously injured (adjusted)8620-23
KSI (adjusted)9120-23
Slightly injured (adjusted)334-1-6-39
All casualties4250-5-36Casualties by severity and monthRoad casualty numbers in each of the last 2 years have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, with periods of lockdown associated with reductions in road traffic and casualties. Chart 3 compares 2020 and 2021 monthly casualty figures, by severity, with the latest pre-pandemic year, 2019.
In the period January to March 2021, the third national lockdown in England, the number of casualties decreased considerably. However, relative to 2019, the number of overall casualties decreased less than in the first national lockdown (March to June 2020).
Fatalities reached their lowest point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2021, when they were 57% lower than the 2019 figure. However, following the end of the 2021 lockdown, fatalities increased to levels closer to those seen in 2019.
KSIs and casualties of all severities followed broadly similar patterns to fatalities in 2021, reducing during the period of lockdown, and reaching their highest levels relative to the 2019 average during the second half of the year. Casualties also showed a small downward trend between November and December 2021, whilst there were high levels of Omicron COVID-19 variant transmission and a reduction in road traffic.
Chart 3: Percentage change of casualties and motor traffic, compared to 2019 [footnote 1], by severity, Great Britain, 2020 to 2021 Periods of lockdown are shaded in grey.
Casualties and casualty rates by road user typeCar occupant casualties accounted for 44% of road fatalities and 55% of all road casualties in 2021, and the majority of road collisions involved at least one car.
Vulnerable road users include pedestrians, pedal cyclists, motorcyclists and e-scooters users. They have higher casualty rates than other vehicle occupants. However very few other road users are killed in collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists.
Our separate factsheets provide more detail on pedal cycle, motorcyclist, pedestrian and e-scooter casualties.
Vehicles involved in fatal collisionsChart 4 shows the number of fatalities in collisions involving different types of vehicle in 2021 (note that figures across all vehicle types do not sum to total fatalities, as a collision can involve more than one type of vehicle). This shows that most fatalities occur in collisions involving a car.
Comparisons with table 4 below show that the vast majority of those killed in collisions involving pedal cyclists are pedal cyclists themselves. By comparison, for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), a majority of those killed in collisions with HGVs are other road users. The relationship between vehicles and casualties in collisions is explored further in our road user risk factsheet and in data table RAS0601.
Chart 4: Reported road fatalities in collisions involving different types of vehicles in Great Britain, 2019 to 2021 RAS0601
Table 3: Reported road fatalities in collisions involving different types of vehicles in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0601
Vehicle type2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Cars1,2169-10-20
Motorcycles3228-9-18
HGVs2076-18-19
LGVs1941312
Pedal cycles117-2084
Buses and coaches34-3-55-55Fatal casualties and rates by road user typeChart 5 shows road fatalities by road user type. There have been different patterns during the pandemic period, with pedal cyclists showing a notably different trend to other types of road user.
Pedal cyclist fatalities increased from 2019 to 2020 and then fell in 2021, though remained above the 2019 level. This reflects patterns in cycling, with an increase during the pandemic in 2020, and a subsequent reduction in 2021. Trends in walking and cycling (for England) are shown in the department’s walking and cycling statistics and personal travel trends more generally are covered by the National Travel Survey.
Car occupants, pedestrians and motorcyclists showed the opposite trend to pedal cyclists, with increases in fatalities in 2021 compared with 2020 and decreases compared with 2019.
Figures for 2021 show a higher number of casualties within the ‘other vehicle occupants’ category which is partially a result of increased e-scooters casualties in 2021. For more information on e-scooters casualties, see the e-scooter factsheet.
In 2021, 44% of fatalities were car occupants, 23% were pedestrians, 20% were motorcyclists and 7% were pedal cyclists.
Of these 4 road user types:

• the biggest percentage change compared to 2020 was for pedal cyclists, which showed a 21% decrease
• the biggest percentage change compared to 2019 was for pedestrians, which showed a 23% decrease

Chart 5: Reported road fatalities by road user type in Great Britain, 2019 to 2021 RAS0201
Table 4: Reported road fatalities by road user type in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0201
Road user type2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Car occupants68210-7-23
Pedestrians3614-23-20
Motorcyclists3109-8-14
Pedal cyclists111-21114
Light goods vehicle occupants4211-224
Other vehicle occupants29142-157
Heavy goods vehicle occupants1813-5-36
Bus or coach occupants525-64-29Chart 6 shows the trend in fatality rates per billion vehicle miles for the main road user types over the last decade compared to the 2011 level. While these rates can fluctuate as the number of fatalities is relatively small, general trends in rates have been flat or downward over this period. Over recent years, fatality rates for car occupants, pedal cyclists, and motorcyclists have been broadly stable again suggesting that changes in fatalities have broadly followed traffic patterns.
In particular, pedal cyclist fatality rates have changed relatively little as changes in fatalities have mirrored changes in traffic in recent years.
Chart 6: Index of reported road fatality rates by road user type in Great Britain, 2011 to 2021. 2011 = 100. RAS0201
Table 5: Reported road fatality rates per billion vehicle miles by road user type in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 [footnote 2] RAS0201
Road user type2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Motorcyclists123-7-3-2
Pedal cyclists26-1-4-22
Pedestrians269-26-30
Bus or coach occupants313-5314
Car occupants3-210-16
Heavy goods vehicle occupants14-7-41
Light goods vehicle occupants1-1-4-6All casualties and rates by road user typeChart 7 shows overall road casualties (of all severities) by road user type. Broad patterns are similar to fatalities, with the exception of pedal cyclists where overall casualty numbers have been broadly stable between 2019 and 2021 (whereas cyclist fatalities increased and then fell in the same period).
In 2021, 55% of casualties were car occupants, 13% were pedestrians, 12% were motorcyclists and 13% were pedal cyclists.
Of these 4 road user types:

• the biggest percentage change compared to 2020 was for motorcyclists, which showed a 16% increase
• the biggest percentage change compared to 2019 was for pedestrians, which showed a 24% decrease

Chart 7: Reported road casualties by road user type in Great Britain, 2019 to 2021 RAS0201
Table 6: Reported road casualties by road user type in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0201
Road user type2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Car occupants70,75510-21-43
Pedestrians16,65413-24-36
Pedal cyclists16,4581-3-14
Motorcyclists15,83816-2-21
Light goods vehicle occupants3,91321-4-13
Other vehicle occupants2,0947010753
Bus or coach occupants1,76217-43-71
Heavy goods vehicle occupants7354-6-48Chart 8 shows casualty rates by road user type. This shows that in general casualty rates have fallen over the past decade, though with some fluctuation in recent years associated with the pandemic period.
Chart 8: Index of reported road casualty rates by road user type in Great Britain, 2011 to 2021. 2011 = 100. RAS0201
Table 7: Reported road casualty rates per billion vehicle miles by road user type in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 [footnote 2] RAS0201
Road user type2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Motorcyclists6,25903-10
Pedal cyclists3,92027-16-35
Pedestrians1,21017-26-44
Bus or coach occupants9755-26-54
Car occupants320-2-6-38
Light goods vehicle occupants728-5-34
Heavy goods vehicle occupants42-4-8-53Casualties by age and sexChart 9 shows fatality and casualty numbers by age and sex. While the highest casualty numbers are for males, and those aged 17 to 29 and 30 to 49, prior to the pandemic there were greater increases in older ages, likely reflecting increases in travel by these age groups.
However, post-pandemic these older groups have also shown a greater than average reduction, which again may reflect changes in travel patterns. More information on the trends in the travel of different groups is available in the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey.
In 2021:

• overall, 78% of fatalities and 62% of casualties of all severities were male
• 3% of fatalities and 10% of all casualties were aged 16 and under
• 26% of fatalities and 30% of all casualties were aged 17 to 29
• 19% of fatalities and 6% of all casualties were aged over 70 and over

Chart 9: Reported road fatalities and casualties by age group and sex in Great Britain, 2011 to 2021 RAS0202
Table 8: Reported road fatalities by age and sex in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0202
SexAge2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Female0 to 1616-20-16-30
Female17 to 297161-38
Female30 to 4970-425-29
Female50 to 698420-29-6
Female70 and over1064-43-31
Male0 to 1630-60-46
Male17 to 29334193-20
Male30 to 493576-5-24
Male50 to 693053-511
Male70 and over1851-27-9Table 9: Reported road casualties by age and sex in Great Britain, 2021, compared with 2020, 2019 and 2011 RAS0202
SexAge2021% change from 2020% change from 2019% change from 2011Female0 to 164,98120-21-48
Female17 to 2913,4158-20-50
Female30 to 4915,38913-19-41
Female50 to 699,39712-24-33
Female70 and over3,74718-33-39
Male0 to 167,26815-18-46
Male17 to 2924,56411-10-39
Male30 to 4927,2068-12-32
Male50 to 6914,8108-13-20
Male70 and over4,30111-22-24International comparisonsComparisons between countries are possible for fatalities per million population, as casualties and traffic data are collected less consistently across different countries. Table RAS0404 compares figures for Great Britain and the United Kingdom with others in Europe and, where data is available, the rest of the world.
Figures for Great Britain have been among the lowest in the world for many years. In 2021, Great Britain had the fifth lowest rate of road fatalities per million people among European countries with a population over 1 million, behind Norway, Sweden and Denmark and Switzerland.
However, the rate of reduction in Great Britain over the previous decade has been lower than some other countries. The European Transport Safety Council’s Performance Index (PIN) programme enables comparisons of road safety progress between European countries to be made. The latest PIN report covers 2021, and shows that, across the European Union, there was a 31% reduction in fatalities in 2021, compared to 2011. The equivalent figure for Great Britain was a decrease of 18%.
Chart 10: Road deaths per million population by country, 2021 RAS0404
Factors contributing to casualtiesRoad collisions occur for a wide range of reasons, including related to road user behaviour and the roads and vehicles involved. A single collision can be the result of several different factors, so that attributing cause of collisions is difficult. An analysis giving further details was included in the 2019 annual report. However, statistics are available covering several key areas and these include:
Contributory factors (RAS0701 to RAS0705): Where a police officer attends the scene of a collision, they are able to record up to 6 factors they consider may have contributed to the collision. The statistics are based on information available to reporting police officers typically within a short time of the collision and therefore of a different nature to the rest of the STATS19 data. Further details are available in the contributory factors guide.
Seatbelt non-wearing (RAS0711): STATS19 records details of whether vehicle occupant casualties were wearing seatbelts, though this information is only mandatory for fatalities. A summary of the latest figures is shown in table RAS0711, which show that around a quarter of car occupant fatalities in recent years were not wearing seatbelts. Statistics showing that overall seatbelt wearing rates for vehicle occupants remain high, is available from the Department for Transport’s seatbelt wearing statistics.
Drink and drug driving (RAS20): Statistics on drink-driving, based on data from STATS19 as well as coroner reports are published separately. The latest statistics available cover 2020. The department is also developing statistics on drug-driving. Currently an initial feasibility study has been produced, and it is hoped to develop this further.
Other topicsAlongside this publication, data tables are available providing statistics on other topics including:
Road type breakdowns RAS03: Including urban and rural roads, and casualties on the strategic road network (SRN). More detailed statistics for SRN roads, including smart motorways, are published by National Highways for example in the smart motorway stocktake reports.
Area comparisons RAS04: Including police force, country, region and local authority breakdowns.
Vehicles and drivers involved RAS05: Covering vehicles involved in collisions by type, manoeuvre and driver characteristics.
Value of prevention of collisions RAS40: The total estimate of the value of preventing all reported and unreported collisions, based on data for 2021, is around £30 billion.
Besides the published tables, users can explore road casualty data in further detail or for specific areas via our interactive dashboard, data download tool and open dataset.
Background quality informationDetailed guidance of road casualty statistics is given on our guidance page. A full list of the definitions used in this publication can be found in our notes and definitions documentation.
Quality and methodologyQualityThe road casualty statistics have been assessed as National Statistics, indicating compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Full details of the quality of these statistics are available in the background quality report. There are however several important areas which users of the statistics should be aware of in interpreting them.
Final estimatesFigures in this release are considered as final estimates and will not usually be revised in future. They are based on complete data from all 42 police authorities in Great Britain (as at 1 September 2022) with no imputation required.
These figures update the provisional estimates published in May following further validation. This validation also impacts parameters used in the adjustment model for severity and therefore estimates for serious injuries, and to a lesser extent, slight injuries, have also changed marginally.
Under-reportingComparisons of road collision reports with death registrations show that very few, if any, road collision fatalities are not reported to the police. However, a considerable proportion of non-fatal casualties are not known to the police, as hospital, survey and compensation claims data all indicate a higher number of casualties than those recorded in police collision data. More information on the coherence of the police reported data with alternative sources can be found in our comparison to other sources of information on road casualties.
Changes in reporting systems used by police forcesFrom 2016 onwards, figures on the severity of injury have been affected by a large number of police forces changing their reporting systems. It is likely that the recording of injury severity is more accurate for forces using these new reporting systems.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Methodology Advisory Service have completed analysis to quantify the effect of the introduction of new injury based reporting systems (CRASH and COPA) on the number of slight and serious injuries reported to the police, and to estimate the level of slight and serious injuries as if all police forces were using injury-based reporting systems.
In 2021, 3 new forces adopted CRASH. These forces were Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, and West Yorkshire. For more information, please see our guide to severity adjustments.
Online self-reportingOnline self-reporting is part of a wider project for digital public contact known as Single Online Home. It is funded by the Home Office to allow people involved in road traffic collisions to report the collision to the police online should they choose to do so, rather than having to physically report it at a police station.
The principle of online reporting is to make it easier for members of the public to report collisions. It is expected that the introduction of online reporting will affect the number of non-fatal (and particularly slight) casualties reported and therefore impact the total for Great Britain, as the public will have more reporting options available to them. This is particularly likely to impact numbers for slight injuries, which may not have been reported otherwise.
See our analysis of the impact of online self reporting for more details.
User engagement, developments and STATS19 reviewDetails of users and uses of road casualty statistics and response to recent user feedback is available from our user engagement page.
The STATS19 system which provides the majority of statistics for this publication is periodically reviewed to keep up with changes in technology, to make improvements to completeness and accuracy, and to reduce the reporting burden. Key recommendations of the latest review, carried out in 2018, can be found in the full STATS19 review report.
National Statistics and pre-release accessThese statistics were designated as National Statistics in July 2009. The continued designation was confirmed in July 2013. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs. More information can be found on our national statistics status webpage.
Details of Ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in our pre-release access list.
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1. Changes in traffic are estimated from the department’s statistics on transport use during the pandemic, and comparisons are relative to February 2020 rather than 2019, though this is not considered to affect the broad patterns shown. Monthly casualty data used to produce this chart is available from the road casualty data download tool↩
   
2. Pedestrian rates are per billion miles walked.↩
   

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