Official road casualty data for 2024 showed only slight improvements in road deaths, prompting calls for the Department for Transport (DfT) to take more urgent action.
In the report, the department highlights that there has been a 1% reduction in road fatalities between 2023 and 2024 in Great Britain, as well as a 4% reduction in casualties of all severities in the same period.
However, when traffic numbers were factored in the results were more positive, with 4.7 road fatalities per billion vehicle miles travelled in 2024, down 3% compared to 2023.
There were 87 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties per billion vehicle miles travelled, a decline of 2%, and 378 casualties of all severities per billion vehicle miles travelled, a reduction of 5%.
However, there were concerning demographic figures including a staggering 19% increase in deaths for men between the ages of 50-69 and an 8% increase in injuries for motorcycle users from 315 to 340.
While predictably, the majority of road casualties occurred in urban areas (62% of the 128,272 casualties) 60% of the 1,602 road deaths in 2024 took place in rural areas. Motorways only saw 5% of all road fatalities.
RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said: ‘Britain might still have an enviable safety record compared to some other countries, but the simple fact is that casualties aren’t falling at a fast enough rate anymore.
'Casualty reduction targets would be one way of giving the whole topic of road safety national focus, as would fresh interventions that could help remove the riskiest drivers from our roads - for instance, introducing alcohol interlocks to stop drink-drivers from reoffending, and steps taken to reduce instances of excessive speeding.
‘The Government has long trailed its forthcoming road safety strategy, so we look forward to seeing how this can bring casualty numbers down further.’
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) calls for the National Road Safety Strategy to:
- Adopt a Safe System approach
- Expand 20mph zones in residential and school areas
- Increase investment in active travel infrastructure
- Enhance data sharing and analysis to target interventions.
Rebecca Guy, senior policy manager at RoSPA, said: ‘These figures are a stark reminder that progress on road safety has stalled, and lives are being lost unnecessarily. It is essential that the upcoming national road safety strategy contains the measures and resources needed to prevent road traffic collisions.
‘Road death is preventable, and with evidence-based solutions, we can reverse this decade of stagnation.’
Image credit: Dmitry Kalinovsky / Shutterstock
