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Road deaths up seven per cent in 2021

Published 29 September 2022
  • Road deaths increased by seven per cent in 2021 compared to 2020, according to a new DfT report 
  • Preventing collisions in 2021 could have saved around £30 billion, road safety charity estimates
  • A quarter of car occupant fatalities in recent years were not wearing seatbelts

Road deaths increased by seven per cent in 2021 compared to the previous year, with an estimated 1,558 fatalities on UK roads, according to the latest Department for Transport (DfT) statistics. 

The number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) reached 27,450, a 14 per cent compared to 2020, while there were an estimated 128,209 casualties of all severities, an 11 per cent increase compared with 2020 when traffic levels were down substantially because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Compared to pre-pandemic (2019) levels, road deaths were down 11 per cent, KSI casualties were down 11 per cent and casualties of all severities were 16 per cent below the 2019 level.

­Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “While the headline reduction in death and injury on the roads is welcome the waters are still muddied by the impact of Covid and the damping effect it had on traffic volume. The worry must be that traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels resulting in casualty numbers and casualty risk also rising and remaining stubbornly high."

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Preventing collisions could save around £30 billion

Road safety charity Brake estimates the value of preventing the collisions in 2021 was around £30 billion, including huge costs to the NHS and emergency services.

It noted that a quarter of car occupant fatalities in recent years were not wearing seatbelts, "demonstrating the vital importance of belting up".

Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake, urged the Government to "put road safety at the heart of its infrastructure plans, set targets for reducing the carnage, urgently implement policies and funding for safe vehicle use and road safety infrastructure in our towns and between places, and help provide devastated families with the support they need". 

Gooding believes there are signs the Government is "serious" about improving road safety as the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng announced in his growth plan that he would accelerate 45 safer road schemes to improve road infrastructure. This is in addition to the DfT's commitment to establish a Road Collision Investigation Branch, which the RAC Foundation helped pilot.

How many people were killed on UK roads in 2021?

There were an estimated 1,558 fatalities on UK roads in 2021, according to the latest Department for Transport (DfT) statistics. 

That's a seven per cent increase on 2020 but down 11 per cent on pre-pandemic (2019) levels.

How do road casualties in the UK compare with Europe?

In 2021, Great Britain had the fifth lowest rate of road fatalities per million people among European countries with a population over one million. This was behind Norway, Sweden and Denmark and Switzerland.

However, the rate of reduction in Great Britain over the previous decade has been lower than some other countries. The European Transport Safety Council’s Performance Index (PIN) programme enables comparisons of road safety progress between European countries to be made. The latest PIN report covers 2021, and shows that, across the European Union, there was a 31 per cent reduction in fatalities in 2021, compared to 2011. The equivalent figure for Great Britain was a decrease of 18 per cent.

Ask HJ

What is the safest small car?

What would be the safest small car to buy, Fiat 500 size?
The smallest cars (classed as city cars) generally have lower Euro NCAP safety ratings than larger models, but it's often more due to the reduced level of driver-assist technology rather than their crash test scores. This is done to keep the price low. We'd avoid the Fiat 500 in petrol form as it has below average adult and child occupant protection scores, but the new electric 500e has decent ratings. Pretty much every other city car has a three star Euro NCAP rating, which is acceptable, but the Seat Mii/VW Up/Skoda Citigo models all have good occupant protection scores. The latest Kia Picanto also scores well, particularly with the optional safety pack, as does the Smart ForFour. If ultimate safety matters, though, larger models like the latest VW Polo and Skoda Fabia have top five star ratings.
Answered by Lawrence Allan
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Can you recommend a safe SUV?

I need an SUV which is safe because I've been rear ended by an SUV twice and I have spinal issues and feel unsafe. My budget is £28,000. I wanted a hybrid. My favourite is Volvo but it’s very expensive. What do you suggest please?
Try a Toyota RAV4. Your budget will get you an early example of the latest model (launched in 2019). It's a hybrid SUV with a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating – including an impressive 93% score for adult occupants. Also consider the (mechanically very similar) Lexus UX 250h.
Answered by Andrew Brady
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Comments

WilliamRead    on 29 September 2022

So the UK is still near the lower levels for deaths and injuries on the roads of Europe. A better comparison would be with Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Nick Bishop    on 29 September 2022

How many of these deaths were due to people using mobile phones or other distractions caused by touch screens in modern cars? The latter should be banned, forcing car makers to return to knobs that can be found without looking.

Contax139    on 30 September 2022

I fully support what you say about touch screens, in older cars you could operate switches by feel. mine has flush switches down in front of right knee, useless position.

DLDLDL    on 30 September 2022

... touch screens in modern cars? The latter should be banned, forcing car makers to return to knobs that can be found without looking.

Agreed totally!

Plus if your touch screen fails or has a dodgy connection you are without a speedometer - which apart from the danger of exceeding the speed limit also means you car is no longer street legal.

"Digital" may be cheaper from a manufacturing point of view but from a full life point of view there is a lot to be said for analogue gauges and switches. One analogue component fails - fairly simple (possibly even DIY) replacement. If the digital screen fails, replacing it is expensive, probable wait for the part, expensive dismantling of dash to do the replacement - probably at dealer or specialist auto-electricain.

Ian Noble    on 30 September 2022

Safer still - self driving cars thus eliminating 90% of RTC causes

VWCSK    on 30 September 2022

There’s nothing so meaningless than comparing anything with 2020 for the obvious reasons and if you don’t know what those reasons are you should be working for the government.

Marcus T.    on 3 October 2022

Covid lockdowns in 2020, so not a fair comparison. How do the figures compare to the previous ten years.

Speedbird 747    on 9 October 2022

Amazing in the UK. You can be fined for eating an apple whilst driving, but if you are trying to use a touchscreen, that is OK.

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