Reported road casualties in Great Britain: annual report 2010

Publisher:Department for Transport
Published date: 29 September 2011
Type:Release
Series:Road accidents and safety
Statistics topic:Casualties, Contributory factors, Drink driving, Major roads, Minor roads, Mode of travel, Walking / Pedestrians

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Summary

This publication presents detailed statistics about the circumstances of personal injury accidents, including the types of vehicles involved, the resulting casualties and factors which may contribute to accidents. In addition to detailed tables there are six articles containing further analysis on specific road safety topics.

Most of the statistics in the publication are based on information about accidents reported to the police. However, other sources such as mortality, survey and hospital data are also used as well as population and traffic data to provide a wider context.

Update

13 October – a set of tables providing further regional and local authority figures were published (RAS10014-RAS10016, RAS30038-RAS30058, RAS410002-RAS410004, RAS51020, RAS90003-RAS90004).

15 December – a full PDF document containing all articles and all published tables is now available for download (see link to “Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain – complete report” in list below).

Download the full release

Download the full release and all tables

Key points

Key findings from the RRCGB 2010 report include:

  • There were a total of 208,648 casualties of all severities in road accidents reported to the police, 6 per cent lower than in 2009. There were 1,850 people killed, 17 per cent lower than in 2009 and 22,660 were seriously injured, down 8 per cent. Motor vehicle traffic fell by 2 per cent over the same period.
  • The number of fatalities fell for almost all types of road user, with a fall of 21 per cent for car occupants, 19 per cent for pedestrians, 15 per cent for motorcyclists. Pedal cycle fatalities rose by 7 per cent.
  • In 2010, it is estimated that 9,700 reported casualties (5 per cent of all road casualties) occurred when someone was driving whilst over the legal alcohol limit. The provisional number of people estimated to have been killed in drink drive accidents was 250 (14 per cent of all road fatalities).
  • Failed to look properly was again the most frequently reported contributory factor and was reported in 40 per cent of all accidents reported to the police in 2010.
  • Not all non-fatal accidents are reported to the police. Our best current estimate is that the total number of road casualties in Great Britain, including those not reported to police, is within the range 660 thousand to 800 thousand with a central estimate of 730 thousand.
  • In 2010, the economic welfare cost of reported road accidents was estimated to be around £15 billion.

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Technical information

Information on road accidents and safety statistics, including related technical documentation (notes and definitions, STATS19 form and instructions for completion) are available at:

Information specific to the Reported Road Casualties Annual Report 2010 can be found here:

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