Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Main Results: 2009

These statistics refer to personal injury accidents in 2009 on public roads (including footways) which became known to the police. Figures for deaths refer to persons who sustained injuries which caused death less than 30 days after the accident.

A more comprehensive analysis of 2009 casualty statistics will be published later this year (September 2010) in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2009 Annual Report.

Key results
• The number of people killed in road accidents fell by 12% from 2,538 in 2008 to 2,222 in 2009. In accidents reported to the police 26,096 people were killed or seriously injured in 2009, 6% fewer than in 2008. There were just over 222,000 road casualties in Great Britain in 2009, 4% less than in 2008.
• The number of deaths among car users in 2009 was 1,059, 16% less than in the previous year. The number seriously injured in accidents reported to the police fell by 6% to 10,053. Total reported casualties among car users were 143,412, 4% lower than 2008. Car and taxi traffic remained at about the same level as in 2008.
• Reported child casualties fell by 6%. The number of children killed or seriously injured in 2009 was 2,671 (down 5% on 2008). Of those, 1,660 were pedestrians, 7% down on 2008. 81 children died on the roads, 43 less than in the previous year, a reduction of over a third.
• There were 500 pedestrian deaths, 13% less than in 2008. Reported seriously injured casualties fell by 9% to 5,545. The all pedestrian casualty figure fell to 26,887 in 2009, 6% lower than 2008.
• The number of pedal cyclists killed fell by 10% from 115 in 2008 to 104 in 2009. The number of seriously injured rose by 6% to 2,606. The total casualties among pedal cyclists rose by 5% to 17,064.
• There were 472 motorcycle user fatalities in 2009, 4% lower than during 2008. The number reported as seriously injured fell by 4% to 5,350. Total reported motorcycle user casualties fell by 4% to 20,703 in 2008. Motorcycle traffic rose by 2% over the same period. The all motorcycle user casualties figure for 2009 of 20,703 is 4% lower than in 2008.
• There were 163,554 road accidents reported to the police involving personal injury in 2009, 4% fewer than in 2008. Of these, 21,997 accidents involved serious injuries, 5% fewer than in 2008 (23,121).

This data is not a complete record of all injury accidents and this should be borne in mind when using and analysing it. However, police data on road accidents (STATS19), while not perfect, remain the most detailed, complete and reliable single source of information on road casualties covering the whole of Great Britain, in particular for monitoring trends over time.