At 2012 prices, this would represent a loss to society valued at about £110 billion. The sharp falls in deaths and injuries seen over the period of the recession may be coming to an end as the economy picks up.
Projecting a range of long-term trends, and allowing for projected changes in population, traffic and other factors and continuation of current road safety policies, about 1,000 people are likely to be killed and about a further 11,000 seriously injured in 2030.
PACTS executive director David Davies said: “A third of a million people, the equivalent of the population of Reading, will be killed or seriously injured on British roads before 2030 if current trends are allowed to continue. There are proven, cost-effective and affordable ways to make our roads safer. Business as usual is not good enough. Ambitious targets and properly resourced interventions are needed. Work should start now on a new national road safety strategy. We can no longer rely on the recession to reduce casualties.”
Report authors Kit Mitchell and Richard Allsop added: “Road safety is a British success story, but there is still much more that can be done at relatively low cost, to reduce casualties to numbers a good deal lower than those projected in our report.”
The full report will be released at the UK Road Safety Summit in London on Thursday (27 March) where politicians and road safety experts will discuss the priorities and options for future road safety strategies for the UK as a whole and in the devolved administrations. Transport Minister Robert Goodwill MP will give the keynote address.
Summary table: GB road casualties projected to 2030:
| Road user | Severity | Casualties in 2012 | Projected casualties in 2030 | Percentage change from 2012 | ||
| All road users | Killed | 1,754 | 1,000 | -43% | ||
| Serious | 23,039 | 11,000 | -52% | |||
| Slight | 170,930 | 150,000 | -12% | |||
| KSI | 24,793 | 12,000 | -52% | |||
| All | 195,723 | 162,000 | -17% | |||
| Car occupants | Killed | 801 | 520 | -35% | ||
| Serious | 8,232 | 3,700 | -55% | |||
| Slight | 116,675 | Probably about 100,000 | -14% | |||
| Pedestrians | Killed | 420 | 160 | -62% | ||
| Serious | 5,559 | 2,500 | -55% | |||
| Slight | 19,239 | 10,000 | -48% | |||
| Motorcyclists and moped users | Killed | 328 | Probably about 300 | -8% | ||
| Serious | 5,000 | 2,800 | -44% | |||
| Slight | 13,892 | 8,900 | -36% | |||
| Pedal cyclists (DfT forecast) | Killed | 118 | 57 | -52% | ||
| Serious | 3,222 | About 2,500 | -22% | |||
| Slight | 15,751 | About 11,500 | -27% | |||
| Children aged 0 - 15 | Killed | 61 | 15 | -75% | ||
| Serious | 2,211 | 700 | -68% | |||
| Slight | 14,979 | 10,200 | -32% | |||
| Car drivers aged 70+ | Killed | 102 | 60 | -41% | ||
| Serious | 705 | 400 | -43% | |||
| Slight | 4,075 | Probably about 4,000 | -2% | |||
