DfT summary

· There were an estimated 1,580 road deaths in the year ending June 2020 which includes three months of the national lockdown. This is a decrease of 14% compared to the previous year. This change is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

• There were 131,220 casualties of all severities in the year ending June 2020, down by 16% from the previous year. This change is statistically significant.

• The overall casualty rate per vehicle mile decreased by 2% over the same period. The reduction in casualties is broadly in line with the reduction in traffic which decreased by 14% over this period.

Casualties by road user type (RAS45012)

• In general, for casualties of all severities, there was a larger percentage reduction for pedestrians and a smaller reduction for pedal cyclists, compared to other road user types over this period. Patterns for killed or seriously injured casualties show broadly similar patterns

• The Department’s COVID-19 transport use statistics suggest that there has been an increase in pedal cyclist traffic volume over the period following the COVID-19 restrictions, while motor vehicle traffic has reduced.

• A more detailed analysis of the trends, including a breakdown by road user type and severity, will be provided as part of the 2020 provisional annual statistics scheduled for publication in June 2021.

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