Reported road accident statistics

This Note provides a range of data relating to reported road accidents in Great Britain, including by: severity of accident; road type; road user type; time of accident; and, age. Breath-testing data is included as are international comparisons of road fatality statistics. It also discusses issues about the reliability of reported road casualty data in Great Britain.

In 2012, there were 195,723 reported casualties on the roads of Great Britain, including 1,754 fatalities and 23,039 serious casualties.

In Great Britain, since the early 1990s, the number and severity of reported accidents has reduced. Compared with 1990, in 2012: there were one-third the number of people killed in road accidents (-66%); there were fewer people seriously injured (-62%); and the slight casualty rate is 38% lower. In 2012 there was an 8% reduction in the number of people killed compared with 2011 and the number of people seriously injured in road accidents fell slightly (0.4%) compared with the previous year.

In 2012 there were relatively fewer road fatalities in the United Kingdom than in other countries across Europe and the rest of the World.