Accredited official statistics

Reported road casualties in Great Britain: motorcycle factsheet, 2021

Published 29 September 2022

This factsheet presents trends from 2004 onwards. However, grouped data for years from 2016 to 2021 is used widely 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 2021.

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 2021:

• fatalities decreased from 585 to 310 (47%)

• serious injuries (adjusted) fell by 40%

• motorcycle traffic fell by 20%

Averaged over the period 2016 to 2021:

• an average of 6 motorcyclists died and 111 were seriously injured (adjusted) per week in reported road casualties

• a majority of motorcycle fatalities (59%) do not occur at or within 20m of a junction compared to 40% of all seriously injured (adjusted) casualties

• almost half (39%) of motorcycle fatalities were in 2 vehicle collisions between a motorcycle and a car

• 67% of motorcycle fatalities occurred on rural roads compared to 40% 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 collisions (FSC) 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 2021, 310 motorcyclists were killed in Great Britain, whilst 5,264 were reported to be seriously injured (adjusted) and 10,264 slightly injured (adjusted).

Table 1 and chart 1 show that motorcycle traffic fell between 2004 and 2021. 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, but increased between 2020 and 2021.

Between 2020 and 2021, motorcyclist fatalities increased by 9% while motorcyclist traffic grew by 17%.

Chart 1: Index of motorcycle traffic and reported motorcyclist casualties by severity, GB: 2004 to 2021 (Index 2004=100)

Table 1: Number of reported motorcycle casualties by severity and traffic (motorcycle billion vehicle miles), GB: 2004 to 2021

Year	Killed	Serious	Slight	All	Traffic
2004	585	8,746	16,310	25,641	3.15
2005	569	8,491	15,764	24,824	3.31
2006	599	8,185	14,542	23,326	3.17
2007	588	8,404	14,467	23,459	3.39
2008	493	7,630	13,427	21,550	3.13
2009	472	7,367	12,864	20,703	3.17
2010	403	6,596	11,687	18,686	2.86
2011	362	7,164	12,624	20,150	2.90
2012	328	6,844	12,138	19,310	2.59
2013	331	6,659	11,762	18,752	2.65
2014	339	7,212	12,815	20,366	2.74
2015	365	6,899	12,663	19,927	2.75
2016	319	6,780	12,198	19,297	2.77
2017	349	6,297	11,396	18,042	2.74
2018	354	6,162	10,302	16,818	2.72
2019	336	5,765	10,123	16,224	2.67
2020	285	4,513	8,806	13,604	2.16
2021	310	5,264	10,264	15,838	2.53

Source: DfT STATS19 and National Road Traffic Census

How far do motorcyclists travel?

There are two 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 2021 compared to 2004.

The overall casualty rate fell by 23%. The fatality rate fell by 34% compared to 25% for serious injuries and 22% for slight injuries.

Chart 2: Index of casualty rates of motorcycle casualties by severity, GB: 2004 to 2021 (Index 2004=100)

Table 2: Casualty rates of motorcycle casualties by severity per billion vehicle miles travelled, GB: 2004 to 2021

Year	Killed	Serious	Slight	All
2004	186	2,776	5,176	8,138
2005	172	2,564	4,759	7,495
2006	189	2,583	4,590	7,363
2007	173	2,478	4,265	6,917
2008	158	2,440	4,294	6,892
2009	149	2,322	4,055	6,527
2010	141	2,306	4,085	6,532
2011	125	2,472	4,356	6,952
2012	127	2,642	4,685	7,453
2013	125	2,515	4,443	7,084
2014	124	2,634	4,680	7,437
2015	133	2,511	4,609	7,254
2016	115	2,449	4,405	6,969
2017	127	2,294	4,152	6,574
2018	130	2,267	3,790	6,188
2019	126	2,160	3,792	6,077
2020	132	2,086	4,070	6,288
2021	123	2,080	4,056	6,259

Sex and age comparisons

Between 2016 and 2021, 92% of motorcycle casualties were male and 8% female.

There are 12 times more male than female motorcycle casualties overall. This compares to 11 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: 2016 to 2021

Which other vehicles are involved in collisions with motorcyclists?

Between 2016 and 2021, most motorcycle fatalities occurred in 2 vehicle collisions involving a car (769).

However, the highest proportion of casualties that are fatal occur in 2 vehicle collisions involving an HGV (8.8%). The second highest proportion (6.0%) occurred in collisions when two or more other vehicles were involved.

Table 3: motorcycle casualties in reported road collisions by severity showing other vehicles involved GB: 2016 to 2021

Other vehicles	Fatalities	Serious injuries	Slight injuries	All casualties	% Fatalities
No other vehicles involved	434	7,869	8,655	16,958	2.6%
1 pedal cycle	6	143	493	642	0.9%
1 motorcycle	33	696	1,368	2,097	1.6%
1 car	769	20,033	43,025	63,827	1.2%
1 bus or coach	14	168	387	569	2.5%
1 light goods vehicle	124	2,008	4,151	6,283	2.0%
1 heavy goods vehicle	104	449	629	1,182	8.8%
1 other vehicle	43	496	636	1,175	3.7%
2 or more other vehicles involved	426	2,919	3,745	7,090	6.0%
Total	1,953	34,782	63,088	99,823	2.0%

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 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: 2016 to 2021

What type of road?

Chart 5 shows that Between 2016 and 2021, 67% 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: 2016 to 2021

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.

Vehicle movement on the road

A majority of motorcycle fatalities (59%) do not occur at or within 20m of a junction compared to 40% of serious injuries (adjusted). However, 27% 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: 2016 to 2021

Junction	Fatalities	Serious	Slight	All Casualties
Crossroads	5.7%	8.1%	9.6%	9.0%
T, Y or staggered junction	23.1%	33.1%	35.8%	34.7%
Junction - more than 4 arms (not roundabout)	0.4%	1.0%	1.5%	1.3%
Other junction	3.8%	4.3%	5.4%	5.0%
Roundabout	2.4%	7.2%	9.3%	8.4%
Mini-roundabout	0.3%	0.9%	1.4%	1.2%
Slip road	1.0%	1.2%	1.3%	1.2%
Private drive or entrance	4.6%	4.1%	3.2%	3.6%
Not at junction or within 20 metres	58.9%	40.0%	30.2%	34.2%
Unknown	0.0%	0.2%	2.3%	1.5%

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 collisions (FSC) (between 2016 and 2021) 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: 2016 to 2021

Contributory Factor	motorcyclists	non-motorcyclists	Any vehicle involved
Driver or rider failed to look properly	4,470	9,823	14,293
Driver or rider failed to judge other person`s path or speed	4,069	3,747	7,816
Driver or rider careless, reckless or in a hurry	3,375	2,174	5,549
Poor turn or manoeuvre	2,397	3,423	5,819
Exceeding speed limit	2,264	199	2,463
Loss of control	2,002	146	2,148
Learner or inexperienced driver/rider	1,501	257	1,758
Travelling too fast for conditions	1,443	138	1,581
Following too close	1,010	215	1,224
Aggressive driving	897	329	1,225

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 collisions 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 of the adjustment for this are in the 2021 annual report.

Road collisions 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