Seven per cent fall in GB Road Casualties brings total deaths below 3000

1 July 2008

The Department of Transport has today published National Statistics on road casualties in Great Britain in 2007, which relate to casualties in accidents reported to the police.

Key results include:

• The number of people killed in road accidents fell, by 7 per cent from 3,172 in 2006 to 2,943 in 2007. 30,720 people were killed or seriously injured in 2007, 4 per cent fewer than in 2006. There were 247,780 road casualties in Great Britain in 2007, 4 per cent less than in 2006.
• Child casualties fell by 7 per cent. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2007 was 3,090 (down 6 per cent on 2006). Of those, 1,899 were pedestrians, 6 per cent down on 2006. 121 children died on the roads, 28 per cent fewer than in 2006.
• Provisional figures indicate that road traffic levels rose by 1 per cent compared to 2006 and the provisional estimate is that the overall casualty rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres (49 per 100 million vehicle kms) was 5 per cent lower than in 2006 (51 casualties per 100 million vehicle kms).
• There were 644 pedestrian deaths, 5 per cent less than in 2006. Killed or serious injured casualties fell by 2 per cent to 6,924. The all pedestrian casualty figure fell to 30,191 in 2007, 3 per cent lower than 2006.
• The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 7 per cent from 146 in 2006 to 136 in 2007. The number of seriously injured rose by 6 per cent to 2,428. The total casualties among pedal cyclists remained at the same level as 2006.
• There were 588 motorcycle user fatalities in 2007, 2 per cent lower than during 2006. The number of killed or seriously injured rose compared to 2006 (up 4 percent from 6,484 in 2006 to 6,737 in 2007). The all motorcycle user casualties figure for 2007 of 23,459 is 1 per cent higher than in 2006.
• The number of deaths among car users in 2007 was 1,431, 11 per cent less than in the previous year. The number seriously injured fell by 9 per cent to 11,536. Total casualties among car users were 161,433, 6 per cent lower than 2006. Provisional traffic estimates indicate a 1 per cent fall in car and taxi traffic over the period.
• There were 182,115 road accidents involving personal injury in 2007, 4 per cent fewer than in 2006. Of these, 27,036 accidents involved death or serious injury, 3 per cent fewer than in 2006 (27,872).

In 2007, the number of people killed or seriously injured was 36 per cent below the 1994-98 average; the number of children killed or seriously injured was 55 per cent below the 1994-98 average; and provisional estimates show the slight casualty rate was 30 per cent below the 1994-98 average.

The full data is available here.