Accredited official statistics

Reported road casualties in Great Britain: motorcycle factsheet, 2020

Published 25 November 2021

Data on reported road accidents from 2015 to 2020 is used widely in this publication in order to allow sufficiently robust analysis by age, sex and other variables.

This factsheet gives an overview and key statistics on motorcyclists involved in road collisions in Great Britain as reported by or to the police. This factsheet examines the main trends in collisions involving motorcyclists and the casualties involved.

Motorcyclists are one of the vulnerable user groups. They are not protected by a vehicle body in the same way car users are, and tend to be harder for drivers to see on the road. They are, therefore, particularly susceptible to injuries.

Data in this factsheet is from 2004 onwards. Serious and slight injuries have been adjusted to account for changes in the severity reporting systems. More information on the change and adjustment process is available in the Reported Road Casualties GB Annual report 2020.

It should be noted that it has been long known that a considerable percentage of non-fatal casualties are not reported to the police. This should be borne in mind when analysing and interpreting the data.

Main findings

Between 2004 and 2020:

• fatalities decreased from 585 to 285 (51%)

• serious injuries (adjusted) fell by 48%

• motorcycle traffic fell by 22%

Averaged over the period 2015 to 2020:

• an average of 6 motorcyclists died and 115 were seriously injured (adjusted) per week in reported road casualties

• a majority of motorcycle fatalities (58%) do not occur at or within 20m of a junction compared to 39% of all seriously injured (adjusted) casualties

• almost half (40%) of motorcycle fatalities in 2 vehicle accidents involved a car

• 66% of motorcycle fatalities occurred on rural roads compared to 41% of traffic

• 92% of motorcycle killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties were male

• the most common contributory factor allocated to motorcyclists in fatal or serious accidents (FSA) with another vehicle was ‘driver or rider failed to look properly’

• ‘driver or rider failed to look properly’ was also the most common factor allocated to the other vehicles involved

Motorcycle traffic and reported casualties

In 2020, 285 motorcyclists were killed in Great Britain, whilst 4,429 were reported to be seriously injured (adjusted) and 8,890 slightly injured (adjusted).

Table 1 and Chart 1 show that motorcycle traffic fell between 2004 and 2020. However, the percentage reduction in non-fatal injuries was greater and fatalities slightly greater again.

The overall number of motorcyclist casualties fell each year from 2014 to 2020.

During 2020, motorcyclist fatalities fell by 15% while motorcyclist traffic fell by 18%.

Chart 1: Index of motorcycle traffic and reported motorcyclist casualties by severity, GB: 2004 to 2020 (Index 2004=100)

Table 1: Number of reported motorcycle casualties by severity and traffic (motorcycle billion vehicle miles), GB: 2004 to 2020

Year	Killed	Serious	Slight	All	Traffic
2004	585	8,564	16,492	25,641	3.16
2005	569	8,328	15,927	24,824	3.32
2006	599	8,031	14,696	23,326	3.17
2007	588	8,256	14,615	23,459	3.40
2008	493	7,491	13,566	21,550	3.13
2009	472	7,249	12,982	20,703	3.18
2010	403	6,485	11,798	18,686	2.89
2011	362	7,050	12,738	20,150	2.95
2012	328	6,733	12,249	19,310	2.92
2013	331	6,552	11,869	18,752	2.79
2014	339	7,097	12,930	20,366	2.91
2015	365	6,781	12,772	19,918	2.94
2016	319	6,660	12,318	19,297	2.97
2017	349	6,189	11,504	18,042	2.99
2018	354	6,062	10,402	16,818	3.01
2019	336	5,667	10,221	16,224	2.97
2020	285	4,429	8,890	13,604	2.45

Source: DfT STATS19 and National Road Traffic Census

How far do motorcyclists travel?

There are 2 sources of motorcycling distances travelled published by the department:

the National Travel Survey (NTS) which provides the number of trips and average distance travelled by person per year for English residents. This is used to derive casualty rates per mile travelled for pedestrians.

the National Road Traffic Census estimates based on annual traffic count data which produces total vehicle miles by type of vehicle and type of road. This is used to derive casualty rates per mile travelled for vehicle occupants.

Casualty rates per mile travelled

The motorcycle casualty rate has fallen for all severities in 2020 compared to 2004.

The overall casualty rate fell by 32%. The fatality rate fell by 37% compared to 33% for serious injuries and 30% for slight injuries.

Chart 2: Index of casualty rates of motorcycle casualties by severity, GB: 2004 to 2020 (Index 2004=100)

Table 2: Casualty rates of motorcycle casualties by severity per billion vehicle miles travelled, GB: 2004 to 2020

Year	Killed	Serious	Slight	All
2004	185	2,710	5,219	8,114
2005	171	2,508	4,797	7,477
2006	189	2,533	4,636	7,358
2007	173	2,428	4,299	6,900
2008	158	2,393	4,334	6,885
2009	148	2,280	4,082	6,510
2010	139	2,244	4,082	6,466
2011	123	2,390	4,318	6,831
2012	112	2,306	4,195	6,613
2013	119	2,348	4,254	6,721
2014	116	2,439	4,443	6,999
2015	124	2,306	4,344	6,775
2016	107	2,242	4,147	6,497
2017	117	2,070	3,847	6,034
2018	118	2,014	3,456	5,587
2019	113	1,908	3,441	5,463
2020	116	1,808	3,629	5,553

Sex and age comparisons

Between 2015 and 2020, 92% of motorcycle casualties were male and 8% female.

There are 12 times more male than female motorcycle casualties overall. This compares to 10 times more for 12 to 15 year olds and 16 times more for 25 to 29 year olds.

Chart 3: Percentage of motorcycle KSI casualties, by sex and age, GB: 2015 to 2020

Which other vehicles are involved in collisions with motorcyclists?

Between 2015 and 2020, most motorcycle fatalities occurred in 2-vehicle accidents involving a car (804).

However, the highest proportion of casualties that are fatal occur in 2-vehicle accidents involving an HGV (8.3%). The second highest proportion (5.8%) occurred in accidents when 2 or more other vehicles were involved.

Table 3: motorcycle casualties in reported road accidents by severity showing other vehicles involved GB: 2015 to 2020

Other vehicles	Fatalities	Serious injuries	Slight injuries	All casualties	% Fatalities
No other vehicles involved	445	8,128	9,542	18,115	2.5%
1 pedal cycle	4	152	502	658	0.6%
1 motorcycle	35	673	1,350	2,058	1.7%
1 car	804	20,737	44,858	66,399	1.2%
1 bus or coach	21	169	417	607	3.5%
1 light goods vehicle	118	1,950	4,147	6,215	1.9%
1 heavy goods vehicle	106	476	694	1,276	8.3%
1 other vehicle	49	481	640	1,170	4.2%
2 or more other vehicles involved	426	3,022	3,957	7,405	5.8%
Total	2,008	35,788	66,107	103,903	1.9%

Time of day of collisions

The weekday peak time for pedal cyclist KSIs is from 7am to 10am and from 4pm to 7pm. By contrast, the pattern differs markedly for Saturday and Sunday for both trips and KSIs. During the weekend there is a single peak around early afternoon (12 noon to 4pm).

Chart 4: Reported motorcycle KSIs by hour of day and day of week, GB: 2015 to 2020

What type of road?

Chart 5 shows that Between 2015 and 2020, 66% of motorcycle fatalities occurred on rural roads compared to 41% in traffic. The proportion of slight injuries and all casualties on rural roads, however, were lower than the proportion of traffic. The rate of fatalities on motorways (3%) was lower than traffic (7%). The rates of non-fatal injuries were lower still.

Chart 5: Percentage of motorcycle casualties, by Urban/rural classification and severity and traffic, GB: 2015 to 2020

Urban roads are those within an area of population of 10,000 or more. The definition is based on the 2001 Communities and Local Government definition of Urban Settlements. Roads outside these areas will be classified as Rural. More information is available in the user guide to urban and rural area definitions (PDF, 271KB).

Vehicle movement on the road

A majority of motorcycle fatalities (58%) do not occur at or within 20m of a junction compared to 39% of serious injuries (adjusted). However, 28% of fatalities occur at a junction compared to 38% of serious injuries (adjusted). Motorcycle fatalities at roundabouts represent 3% of all fatalities in contrast to 8% of serious injuries (adjusted).

Table 4: Percentage of motorcyclist casualties by severity and junction detail where the collision occurred, GB: 2015 to 2020

Junction	Fatalities	Serious	Slight	All Casualties
Crossroads	5.8%	8.0%	9.6%	9.0%
T, Y or staggered junction	24.2%	33.9%	37.3%	35.9%
Junction - more than 4 arms (not roundabout)	0.3%	0.8%	1.3%	1.1%
Other junction	3.7%	3.8%	4.4%	4.2%
Roundabout	2.5%	7.3%	9.7%	8.8%
Mini-roundabout	0.2%	0.9%	1.4%	1.2%
Slip road	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.2%
Private drive or entrance	4.6%	4.6%	3.8%	4.1%
Not at junction or within 20 metres	57.6%	39.4%	30.0%	33.8%
Unknown	0.0%	0.1%	1.2%	0.8%

Contributory factors in collisions

Contributory factors provide an insight into how and why collisions occur. The factors are largely subjective as they reflect the opinion of the reporting police officer. They are assigned quickly at the occurrence of the collision and often without extensive investigations and so should be interpreted with caution. They are likely to be affected in part by preconceptions police officers have of certain vehicle groups. A maximum of 6 factors can be recorded for each collision.

Table 5 shows the 10 most common contributory factors that have been allocated to motorcyclists that have been involved in fatal or serious accidents (FSA) accidents (between 2015 and 2020) and contrasts this with the number allocated to non-motorcyclists in these collisions.

The 2 most common contributory factor assigned to both motorcyclists and other vehicle types was ‘failed to look properly’ followed by a failure ‘to judge other person’s path or speed’.

The third most common factor allocated to motorcyclists was ‘driver or rider careless, reckless or in a hurry’. For other vehicles in collision with them the third most common was ‘poor turn or manoeuvre’.

Table 5: Contributory factors allocated to vehicles involved in fatal or serious collisions with motorcycle, GB: 2015 to 2020

Contributory Factor	Motorcyclists	Non-motorcyclists	Any vehicle involved
Driver or rider failed to look properly	4,725	10,650	15,375
Driver or rider failed to judge other person`s path or speed	4,260	4,054	8,314
Driver or rider careless, reckless or in a hurry	3,374	2,445	5,819
Poor turn or manoeuvre	2,593	3,982	6,575
Exceeding speed limit	2,255	193	2,448
Loss of control	2,204	154	2,358
Travelling too fast for conditions	1,558	155	1,713
Learner or inexperienced driver/rider	1,540	289	1,828
Following too close	1,051	221	1,272
Sudden braking	925	468	1,393

Further information

Further information on road collisions and casualties can be found in Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain.

Published tables on casualties in reported road accidents are available.

Non-fatal casualties since 2016 have been affected by a large number of police forces changing their reporting systems which has had a large impact on the classification of injuries recorded. Further details are in the 2020 annual report.

Road accidents and safety statistics guidance including accompanying notes and definitions are available.

Personal travel statistics within Great Britain covering English residents is available from the National Travel Survey.

Road traffic statistics provide estimates of the vehicle miles travelled each year in Great Britain by vehicle type, road category and region.

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Contact details

Road safety statistics

Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk