Who is most at risk on Britain's roads?
Motorcyclists were 1 in 4 of the 1,538 people killed on Britain's roads in 2025. Casualties by road user, and the council areas with the highest collision rates.
Road safety
1 in 4
road deaths in 2025 were motorcyclists (386 of 1,538)
- 1,538 people killed on Britain's roads in 2025, 4.0% fewer than in 2024
- 25.1% of road deaths were motorcyclists
- +14.5% rise in cyclists killed or seriously injured
- 287.7 collisions per 100 million vehicle miles in Hackney, the highest rate
Fewer people died on Britain’s roads in 2025, but the risk is spread very unevenly. We looked at who was killed or hurt, how that changed from 2024, and which council areas have the most collisions for the traffic on their roads.
Casualty figures are for Great Britain in 2025, from police-reported injury collisions (STATS19). Council collision rates cover the five years from 2021 to 2025.
How many people were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads in 2025?
1,538 people were killed on Britain’s roads in 2025, 4.0% fewer than the 1,602 killed in 2024. Killed or seriously injured casualties rose 3.6%, to 29,918.
Deaths, serious injuries and all casualties
Casualties of all severities were almost unchanged, at 127,883 against 128,272 a year earlier. They came from 101,525 reported injury collisions.
| Casualties, Great Britain | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Killed | 1,602 | 1,538 | −4.0% |
| Killed or seriously injured (adjusted) | 28,876 | 29,918 | +3.6% |
| All casualties | 128,272 | 127,883 | −0.3% |
These totals match the Department for Transport’s final road casualty results for 2025, published on 30 July 2026. Our data pages still label the figures provisional, and DfT says some detailed 2025 tables and rates will be updated in September 2026.
What the seriously injured adjustment means
Police forces have been moving to injury-based reporting systems, which tend to record more injuries as serious. DfT publishes adjusted estimates of serious injuries so that trends over time can be compared.
The switch has been fast. Forces using injury-based reporting recorded 58.8% of collisions in 2024 and 86.5% in 2025.
DfT says the adjusted figures can be used to compare trends over time, but that the 2025 rise in killed or seriously injured casualties should be interpreted with caution. It is too early to say whether it marks a change in the longer-term trend.
Which road users are most at risk?
Motorcyclists face by far the highest risk for the distance they travel. They were 386 of the 1,538 people killed in 2025, or 25.1%, although DfT says they make up about 1% of road traffic.
Deaths and serious injuries by road user
Car occupants are still the largest group, with 626 deaths and 52.8% of all casualties. Motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists together accounted for 829 deaths, 53.9% of the total.
| Road user | Killed 2024 | Killed 2025 | KSI 2024 | KSI 2025 | KSI change | Share of 2025 deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Car occupants | 692 | 626 | 11,425 | 11,259 | −1.5% | 40.7% |
| Motorcyclists | 340 | 386 | 5,710 | 6,096 | +6.8% | 25.1% |
| Pedestrians | 409 | 364 | 6,132 | 6,322 | +3.1% | 23.7% |
| Cyclists | 82 | 79 | 3,835 | 4,390 | +14.5% | 5.1% |
| E-scooter users | 5 | 10 | 357 | 420 | +17.6% | 0.7% |
| All road users | 1,602 | 1,538 | 28,876 | 29,918 | +3.6% | 100% |
KSI means killed or seriously injured, using the adjusted serious figures. DfT groups car occupants slightly differently and gives 629 deaths, so our car occupant casualty figures differ a little from its tables.
Why motorcyclists stand out
DfT’s figures by road user type put the motorcyclist death rate at 128 per billion vehicle miles in 2025. The rate for car occupants was 2, and for all road users 4.
Motorcyclist deaths rose 13.5%, from 340 to 386, even though motorcyclist casualties overall fell 3.2%. The data can’t tell us why deaths rose in a single year.
Related: Motorcyclist casualties since 2021
Are more cyclists and pedestrians being hurt?
Cyclists killed or seriously injured rose 14.5% to 4,390, the largest rise of the main road user groups. Pedestrian deaths fell 11.0% to 364, but pedestrians killed or seriously injured rose 3.1% to 6,322.
Cyclists
Cyclist deaths fell slightly, from 82 to 79, while all cyclist casualties rose 10.3% to 16,042. DfT says it is too early to tell whether the 2025 rise in serious injuries is a change in the longer-term trend, so one year’s jump needs caution.
Our cyclist casualty figures show each year from 2021.
Pedestrians
Pedestrians were 23.7% of deaths but 15.6% of casualties. When a pedestrian is hurt in a collision, the outcome is more often fatal than for road users as a whole.
The pedestrian casualty figures show how the numbers have moved since 2021.
E-scooter users
1,162 e-scooter users were killed or injured in 2025, and 420 of them were killed or seriously injured, up 17.6% from 357. Ten e-scooter users were killed, against five in 2024.
DfT counts e-scooters within its “other vehicles” group. Our e-scooter casualty page shows them on their own.
Which council areas have the highest collision rates?
Hackney has the highest rate in Great Britain, with 287.7 reported collisions per 100 million vehicle miles over 2021 to 2025. The 21 highest rates are all London local authorities, and Blackpool has the highest outside London at 95.7.
How we compare council areas
We divide each area’s police-reported collisions by DfT’s estimate of the traffic on all its roads, giving collisions per 100 million vehicle miles. We rate the 204 councils that are highway authorities, and district councils aren’t rated.
A rate is fairer than a raw count, because busy areas have more collisions simply by carrying more traffic. The methodology explains how we match collisions to areas.
The highest and lowest rates
| Council area | Collisions 2021 to 2025 | Collisions per 100m vehicle miles | Fatal or serious collisions per 100m vehicle miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hackney | 3,909 | 287.7 | 47.5 |
| Islington | 2,961 | 264.6 | 43.4 |
| Westminster | 5,887 | 263.6 | 54.4 |
| Haringey | 4,149 | 259.5 | 33.0 |
| Camden | 3,497 | 254.6 | 38.8 |
| City of London | 876 | 234.1 | 71.1 |
| Blackpool (highest outside London) | 1,548 | 95.7 | 31.6 |
| Middle of the 204 rated areas | 25.7 | ||
| Rutland | 170 | 8.0 | 3.1 |
| Moray | 198 | 7.9 | 4.9 |
| Aberdeen City | 349 | 7.5 | 3.8 |
| Shetland Islands | 52 | 7.4 | 3.9 |
| Aberdeenshire | 702 | 7.2 | 4.5 |
Hackney, Islington and Westminster top the list. The City of London has the highest rate of fatal or serious collisions, 71.1 per 100 million vehicle miles.
At the other end, Aberdeenshire has the lowest rate at 7.2, followed by the Shetland Islands at 7.4. Outside London, Blackpool has the highest rate, at 95.7.
Why do London local authorities have the highest collision rates?
The data can’t say why. Inner London has little motor traffic for the number of people walking and cycling, so every collision counts for more in a per-mile rate, and a smaller share are fatal or serious (16.5% in Hackney).
Who gets hurt in Hackney and Aberdeenshire
In Hackney, cyclists were 1,503 of the 4,250 casualties over 2021 to 2025 (35.4%), and car occupants 843 (19.8%). In Aberdeenshire, car occupants were 783 of 1,101 casualties (71.1%).
Every collision on a crowded street is counted against a small amount of motor traffic. That arithmetic can lift the rate in dense urban areas, so a high rate isn’t proof that a place is more dangerous to drive in.
Severity tells a different story
Only 16.5% of Hackney’s collisions were fatal or serious, against 62.8% in Aberdeenshire. Across Great Britain over 2021 to 2025, rural roads had fewer than half as many collisions as urban roads but more fatal ones: 4,773 against 2,779.
Council traffic estimates are less reliable than national ones, and police forces changed their injury reporting at different times. The data can’t tell us why any one area’s rate is high or low, so treat small differences with care.
How can you use these figures?
Use them to understand patterns in the places and ways you travel, not as a verdict on any single street. Every council area and road user group has its own page on UK Motoring.
Check your own area
Our collision rates by council area rank all 204 rated areas for 2021 to 2025. For the national picture, including deaths by year, see road collisions and casualties in Great Britain.
What the data doesn’t cover
STATS19 counts only injury collisions reported to the police, and many slight injuries never are. DfT publishes the full national series in its road safety statistics collection.
These figures are for Great Britain only. Northern Ireland publishes its road casualty statistics separately.
FAQs
How many people died on Britain's roads in 2025?
1,538 people were killed in Great Britain in 2025, 4.0% fewer than the 1,602 killed in 2024. These are the Department for Transport's final figures. Northern Ireland reports its figures separately.
Which road users are most at risk?
Motorcyclists. DfT puts their death rate at 128 per billion vehicle miles in 2025, against 2 for car occupants, and they were 386 of the 1,538 people killed.
Are more cyclists being seriously injured?
Cyclists killed or seriously injured rose 14.5% to 4,390 in 2025, on DfT's adjusted figures. Cyclist deaths fell slightly, from 82 to 79.
How many e-scooter users were hurt in 2025?
1,162 e-scooter users were killed or injured in reported collisions in Great Britain. 420 of them were killed or seriously injured, including 10 deaths.
Which council area has the highest collision rate?
Hackney, with 287.7 reported collisions per 100 million vehicle miles over 2021 to 2025. The 21 highest rates are all London local authorities.
Where is the collision rate lowest?
Aberdeenshire, with 7.2 collisions per 100 million vehicle miles over 2021 to 2025, followed by the Shetland Islands at 7.4. A far larger share of collisions there were fatal or serious, though.
Why are the seriously injured figures adjusted?
Police forces have been moving to injury-based reporting, which tends to record more injuries as serious. DfT adjusts the figures so trends over time can be compared, and says the 2025 rise in killed or seriously injured casualties should be interpreted with caution.
Are rural roads more dangerous than urban roads?
Urban roads had more reported collisions over 2021 to 2025, 345,314 against 168,429. Rural roads had more fatal collisions, 4,773 against 2,779.
About the author
The UK Motoring editorial team analyses official motoring data and checks every figure against its source before it is published.
