Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2011 Annual Report

This report 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 report 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.

The key findings include:
• In 2011, there were a total of 203,950 casualties of all severities in road accidents reported to the police, 2% lower than in 2010. There were 1,901 people killed, a 3% increase than in 2010 and 23,122 were seriously injured, up 2%. Motor vehicle traffic increased slightly (0.2%) over the same period.
• The number of fatalities fell for three types of road user, with a fall of 22% for bus and coach occupants, 10% for motor cyclists, 4% for pedal cyclists. Pedestrian and Car occupants rose by 12% and 6% respectively.
• In 2011, it is estimated 9,990 reported casualties (5% 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 280 (15% of all road fatalities).
• The rate per billion vehicle miles for total casualties in reported road accidents and the rate of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in 2011 were both 15% lower than the 2005-09 average. For fatalities alone, the 2011 rate was 32% lower than the average.
• Failed to look properly was again the most frequently reported contributory factor and was reported in 42% of all accidents reported to the police in 2011.
• In 2011, the economic welfare cost of reported road accidents was estimated to be around £15.6 billion.