The latest official figures for road safety in Great Britain show small but encouraging improvements over previous years. In 2022 there were 1,695 road fatalities from crashes, a drop of 3% from the figures for 2019. There was also a 3% drop in those killed or seriously injured (KSI) for 2022 compared with 2019, dropping to 29,795. And there were 136,002 casualties of all severities, a decline of 11% compared to 2019.
Looking back a further 10 years however does reveal the overall improvement in road safety in Great Britain. Road deaths for 2009 stood at 2,222. And going further back to the early 1970s when road deaths peaked in Great Britain, around 5x as many people were killed every year in road crashes.
This improvement in road safety in Great Britain contrasts strongly with the situation in the US, where road safety continues to decline.
There was a significant gain in road safety for pedestrians in 2022, with 20% fewer fatalities than in 2019. Car occupant deaths meanwhile dropped by 16% for 2022 compared with 2019, while there were 15% fewer deaths of cyclists in 2022 compared with 2019. However, motorcyclist casualty numbers slightly increased compared to 2019.
For 2022, 46% of fatalities were car occupants, 22% were pedestrians, 21% were motorcyclists and 5% were pedal cyclists. Meanwhile in 2022, 55% of total casualties (including those suffering serious and minor injuries) were car occupants, 14% were pedestrians, 12% were motorcyclists and 12% were pedal cyclists.
Overall, in 2022 75% of fatalities and 62% of casualties of all severities were male while 3% of fatalities and 10% of casualties were aged 16 years old and under. In addition, 25% of fatalities and 29% of casualties were aged 17 to 29 years old while 23% of fatalities and 7% of casualties were aged 70 years old and over.
Overall, 75% of fatalities were male in 2022. In 2022 the age group with the most male fatalities was 30 to 49 year olds with 366 fatalities, a decline of 3% compared to 2019. For females the age group with the most fatalities in 2022 was 70 year olds and over with 155 fatalities, a decline of 16% compared to 2019. The largest reductions are seen in females in the older age groups when comparing to 2019, however when comparing to 2012 these age groups have seen an increase. Overall, 62% of casualties of all severities were male in 2022. In 2022 the age group with the most male casualties of all severities was 30 to 49 year olds with 27,539 casualties. For females the 30 to 49 year old age group also had the most casualties of all severities in 2022 with 16,341 casualties.
