News

Thursday 2nd November 2023

Reported Road Casualties Declining in Number.

In a year marked by unique challenges and societal shifts, the roads of Great Britain bore witness to a significant transformation in road traffic casualties. As we delve into the recently released data, a stark contrast emerges when we compare 2022 to 2019, as the 2020 and 2021 figures were notably influenced by the global pandemic.

This article shines a spotlight on the reported road casualties of 2022, a year that saw 135,480 individuals experience a road traffic related personal injury, marking a notable 12% decline from the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019. Within these statistics, the nuances come to light, with 105,738 individuals classified as slightly injured, 28,031 seriously injured, and a heartbreaking 1,711 fatalities.

The following article shows the number of personal injury road traffic casualties in Great Britain that were reported by the police to the Department for Transport in 2022 using the STATS19 reporting system. (For comparison we look to 2019 being that the 2020 & 2021 data were affected by the Pandemic).

The Headlines and top-level figures for 2022:
• 135,480 casualties of all severities, a decline of 12% compared to 2019 of which
• 105,738 slightly injured, a decline of 14% compared to 2019
• 28,031 seriously injured casualties, a decline of 3% compared to 2019
• 1,711 fatalities, a decline of 2% compared to 2019

Considering road collision rates per billion miles travelled, the final estimates show:
• 328 billion vehicle miles travelled in 2022, a return to travel levels last seen in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic
• 5 road fatalities per billion vehicle miles travelled in 2022, up 2% compared to 2019

The final estimates further show:
• the road user type with the biggest estimated percentage change for 2022 compared to 2019
for fatalities was pedestrians, which showed a decline of 18%
• in 2022, 76% of fatalities and 62% of casualties of all severities were male
• in international comparisons for 2022, Great Britain ranked 5 out of 38 countries with available data for lowest number of road fatalities per million population

Reported road fatalities & casualties for road user type:
                                              Fatal     All Casualties
• Car Occupants                    788      74,379
• Pedestrians                         385      19,327
• Motorcyclist                         350      16,943
• Cyclists                                  91        15,693
• LGV Occupants                     40          3,991
• HGV Occupants                    23              685
• Bus & Coach Occupants        3          2,134
• Other Vehicle Occupants      3         13,328

In terms of all Casualties:
In 2022, 53% of casualties were car occupants, 14% were pedestrians, 12% were motorcyclists and 11% were pedal cyclists.

If you’ve been involved in a road traffic accident of any sort, the implications can be very serious, physically, emotionally and financially. You need to act swiftly and get the right legal advice. The highly experienced Accident and Injuries Team at Rundlewalker is available to you.

Simply contact us now and we can advise you of the options available. Please call Roger Henderson on 01392 209218 or email roger.henderson@rundlewalker.com

Roger has worked closely with many road safety professionals and stakeholders, so he very much supports all road users taking extra care and being respectful to each other whilst on the roads of Great Britain.

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Vision Zero’s ambition is to cut road deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2040 – and to reduce current numbers by 50% by 2030.

In 2021, 47 people were killed and 647 were seriously injured on the roads of Devon and Cornwall. That number MUST come down. While the region is one of the safest when it comes to road safety, we believe that any death or serious injury is too many.

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Acknowledgement & appreciation are extended to Graham Feest Consultancy incorporating the UK Road Safety Network along with its individual contributors.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.