DfT road accident report released this week provides the number of personal injury road traffic accidents in Great Britain that were reported by the police in 2020 using the STATS19 reporting system. It also includes the number of people killed or injured in these accidents and which road user group they were in.

While absolute cycle numbers increase, all other road users look safer in 2020, compared to 2019.

Headline figures

-an estimated 1,472 reported road deaths in 2020 which includes a total of 4 months of national lockdown (April to June and November)
-an estimated 23,486 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in 2020, a decrease of 22% compared to the same period in 2019
-115,333 casualties of all severities in 2020, a decrease of 25% from 2019
-the reduction in road traffic followed a similar trend in the same period and decreased by 21%
-pedal cyclist casualty rates saw the greatest percentage decrease (34%) compared to all other road user types

Fatalities decrease 16%

There were 1,472 fatalities in reported road accidents in 2020, a decrease of 16% from the previous year.
The overall trend in fatalities between 2010 and 2019 was broadly flat. However, road traffic saw a gradual increase of 17% from 2010 to 2019, causing fatality rates to fall.
The decrease in fatalities in 2020 is associated with the reduction in road traffic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fatal casualties in 2020 saw a smaller reduction than injured casualties compared to both 2019 and 2010

Serious and slight injuries decrease more than 20%

Our best estimate, after adjusting for changes in reporting by police, is that there were 22,014 seriously injured and 91,847 slightly injured casualties, decreases of 22% and 25% since 2019, respectively.
Since 2010, there has been a greater decline in serious injuries compared to fatalities

Casualty rates by road user type

Motorcycle fatalities down from 336 in 2019 to 282 in 2020.

Pedal cyclist traffic increased by 46% in 2020 compared to 2019, whereas all motor vehicle traffic decreased by 21%. Compared to other road users, pedal cyclist casualty rates saw the greatest reduction of 34%. This may be as a result of reduced motor vehicle traffic and increased pedal cyclist traffic.