Transport Insights

The latest statistics from the Department for Transport show the country treading water on road safety, with fatalities down but serious casualties up overall.

According to Reported road casualties in Great Britain, provisional estimates: 2025, there were an estimated:

1,556 fatalities, a decline of 3% compared to 2024

29,911 killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties, an increase of 4% compared to 2024

127,870 casualties of all severities, little change compared to 2024

The quote from a government spokesperson as reported by the Guardian should raise immediate suspicions:

We have set an ambitious target to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 65% by 2035 and have consulted on multiple new measures, including a lower drink drive limit and a minimum learning period.

When you proclaim your target to be “ambitious”, you are both telling people that you are trying to make a big impact and giving yourself a get out when you miss the target.

As I commented at the time, the draft of the third Road Investment Strategy, published last summer, said:

Progress towards a stretch target of a 50% reduction for the RIS2 period has proved challenging.

and

Like RIS1 and RIS2, we want to set a robust and ambitious safety target

The word robust is almost always spin. It’s the opposite of robust if you say, well the target was ambitious so it isn’t surprising that we missed it. Of course RIS 3 didn’t set a robust target at all, but one that merely required National Highways to try.

Back to last year’s safety stats, the Guardian’s top line is:

Nearly 500 seriously injured in e-scooter collisions in Great Britain last year

Ten people, all of whom were e-scooter riders, were killed in collisions compared with six in 2024

This is happening while the government carries on kicking e-scooter legislation into the long grass. But don’t worry. A government spokesperson said:

We know the law needs updating to make sure e-scooters are safe for everyone on the road and will be consulting on e-scooter regulations in the next year.

Meanwhile the Commons Transport Committee will examine the Government’s Road Safety Strategy next week:

Witnesses are likely to be asked whether the strategy goes far enough to deliver on the Government’s ambition and whether the 2035 targets are credible.