Child road casualties rose in Britain in 2025, official data shows
The number of children under age 16 seriously injured or killed on Britain’s roads rose last year, according to new casualty data published today by the Department for Transport.
There were 2,432 serious and fatal child casualties in 2025, an increase of 3% compared with the 2022 to 2024 baseline average of 2,353. Children aged 0 to 16 accounted for 11% of all casualties and 10% of KSI casualties, but a much smaller share of fatalities, at 4%.
The rise bucks a general downward trend in child casualties over the past twenty years. Overall child KSIs (aged 0-15) decreased from 5,561 in 2004 to 2,432 in 2025, a 56% decrease, while child pedestrian KSIs decreased from 3,314 in 2004 to 1,220 in 2025, a 63% decrease. The new Road Safety Strategy for England has a target of a 70 per cent reduction in child death and serious injury in road traffic crashes by 2035, coupled with a goal of increasing the proportion of active travel by school students aged 5-16 from 45 per cent to 60 per cent.
Yet child pedestrians still accounted for 50% of all child KSIs in 2025. And there is a significant social justice issue. According to the government’s deprivation index, published most recently last November, poorer children are more likely to be victims of traffic collisions. More than 20% of child pedestrians killed or injured lived in the most deprived tenth percentile neighbourhoods, compared with 4% living in the least deprived.
There were 1,538 reported road fatalities of all ages, a 4% reduction from 2024. Overall, the number of reported killed or seriously injured (KSI) road casualties in Great Britain was 29,918 in 2025, an increase of 3% compared with the 2022 to 2024 baseline average of 28,925. People aged 30 to 49 accounted for the largest share of KSI, at 28%. Including slight injuries, there were 127,883 casualties in total.
Motorcyclists are the road user group with the highest risk of death and serious injury per mile travelled. Motorcyclists accounted for 25% of road deaths but just 1% of road traffic in 2025
Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists) account for a disproportionately large share of fatalities and KSI casualties compared with their share of traffic. Together these groups made up over half of those killed and seriously injured (KSI) in road collisions and had the highest casualty rates.
Speed-related factors featured prominently in the most severe collisions. Three speed-related factors — travelling too fast for conditions, exceeding the speed limit, and being aggressive, dangerous or reckless — were all among the most commonly assigned factors in fatal collisions.
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