Road safety

Car occupants injured on the roads

Car occupants killed and injured in police-reported collisions in Great Britain from 2021 to 2025: the trend, who they are, and when and where it happens.

Last updated
Records analysed
354,843 car occupant casualties
Methodology
View methodology
  • Casualties, 2025 67,520 −3.4% on 2024
  • Killed, 2025 626 40.7% of all road deaths
  • Killed or seriously injured 11,259 16.7% of car occupants casualties (adjusted)
  • Share of casualties 52.8% of everyone injured in 2025

Car occupants killed and injured since 2021

In 2025, 626 car occupants were killed and 10,633 seriously injured on Great Britain’s roads, out of 67,520 car occupant casualties. Casualties are down 4.4% on 2021, and deaths down 8.1% on 2021.

Casualties by severity

Serious and slight are DfT’s adjusted figures.

Car occupants casualties in Great Britain by severity and year
Year SlightSeriousKilled
2021 60,6939,220681
2022 63,09610,304786
2023 61,37610,574725
2024 58,44310,733692
2025 56,26110,633626

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Killed each year

Car occupants killed on Great Britain’s roads by year
Year Killed
2021 681
2022 786
2023 725
2024 692
2025 626

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Age and sex

51.1% of car occupant casualties where sex was recorded were male. The largest age band is 26 to 35, with 72,207 casualties from 2021 to 2025.

Car occupants casualties by age, 2021 to 2025

DfT’s age bands differ in width.

Car occupants casualties by age band and severity, 2021 to 2025
Age SlightKilled or seriously injured
0–5 5,267659
6–10 7,438790
11–15 6,960921
16–20 30,0927,030
21–25 33,7176,381
26–35 62,4159,792
36–45 50,0967,147
46–55 39,3936,199
56–65 28,8015,718
66–75 15,3944,499
Over 75 13,6625,448

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

When car occupants are hurt

The peak hour is 17:00 to 17 :59, the busiest day Friday, and the busiest month Nov ( 31,800 casualties from 2021 to 2025, against 24,724 in Feb).

Casualties by hour of the day

Car occupants casualties by hour of the day, 2021 to 2025
Hour Casualties
00 7,692
01 5,361
02 4,033
03 3,264
04 2,895
05 3,565
06 6,311
07 12,165
08 18,865
09 14,687
10 15,271
11 18,283
12 20,280
13 21,342
14 22,661
15 26,635
16 28,502
17 29,737
18 23,472
19 18,708
20 14,783
21 13,558
22 12,559
23 10,214

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

By day of the week

Car occupants casualties by day of the week, 2021 to 2025
Day Casualties
Monday 48,011
Tuesday 47,739
Wednesday 48,704
Thursday 49,624
Friday 58,277
Saturday 55,371
Sunday 47,117

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

By month

Car occupants casualties by month, 2021 to 2025
Month Casualties
Jan 28,329
Feb 24,724
Mar 27,042
Apr 27,745
May 30,800
Jun 31,112
Jul 31,520
Aug 30,515
Sep 29,670
Oct 31,097
Nov 31,800
Dec 30,489

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Where car occupants are hurt

52.2% of car occupant casualties are in urban areas, but 19.9% of those in rural areas are killed or seriously injured, against 11.4% in towns. The share killed or seriously injured is highest on 60 mph roads (24.2%).

By road class

Car occupants casualties by road class, 2021 to 2025
Road class Casualties
Motorway 14.7% killed or seriously injured 21,798
A-road 15.6% killed or seriously injured 166,723
B-road 17.9% killed or seriously injured 46,547
C-road 12.8% killed or seriously injured 12,816
Unclassified road 14.8% killed or seriously injured 106,954

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

By speed limit

Car occupants casualties by speed limit, 2021 to 2025
Speed limit Casualties
20 mph 9.0% killed or seriously injured 27,264
30 mph 12.1% killed or seriously injured 156,937
40 mph 15.4% killed or seriously injured 42,024
50 mph 18.7% killed or seriously injured 24,834
60 mph 24.2% killed or seriously injured 68,623
70 mph 16.4% killed or seriously injured 35,160

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

By light

Car occupants casualties by light conditions, 2021 to 2025
Light Casualties
Daylight 14.0% killed or seriously injured 240,968
Dark, street lights lit 15.2% killed or seriously injured 73,355
Dark, street lights unlit 18.3% killed or seriously injured 2,729
Dark, no street lighting 27.2% killed or seriously injured 32,604
Dark, lighting unknown 13.8% killed or seriously injured 5,158

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Urban or rural

Car occupants casualties in urban and rural areas, 2021 to 2025
Area Casualties
Urban 11.4% killed or seriously injured 185,174
Rural 19.9% killed or seriously injured 169,628

Source:DfT STATS19,UK Motoring analysis 2021 to 2025 Updated

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures Source Period Records Updated
Car occupants casualties Road safety open data (STATS19) Department for Transport
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2021 to 2025 354,843 car occupant casualties 15 September 2026
  • Casualties from 2021 to 2025: 354,843 in all, 3,510 killed.
  • Car occupants include drivers and passengers of cars, taxis and private hire cars.
  • Serious and slight figures are DfT’s adjusted estimates for injury-based reporting.
  • Breakdowns leave out casualties where the field was not recorded.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.