STATS19 collection and use: initial impacts of transition to the 2024 specification
Published 27 November 2025
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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This guidance relates to the reporting of variables within the STATS19 road collision data collection that have either been introduced or changed as a result of the 2018 STATS19 review, which resulted in the current 2024 data specification. Currently some forces are still recording data in the old 2011 specification, while others have moved to the new specification, and the initial impact of this transition is outlined in this report.
1. Introduction
The most recent review of the STATS19 collection was started in 2018 and the recommendations from that review, published in 2021, led to the change in the reporting and scope of several existing variables and introduced other new variables into a new specification which was in place from the start of 2024, in some police forces areas.
Full details of the reasons for the changes are set out in the STATS19 review reports available on our guidance page.
This report represents an initial analysis of the impact of the transition to the new specification on the affected variables and is based on data reported for 2024 and the first 6 months of 2025, in order to see if there has been a step change in the recording of any of the changed variables when comparing the converted data to the data directly collected in the new specification. We will aim to review the results of this analysis as more police forces move to the new specification over time.
2. Summary of changes introduced in the 2024 specification
Broadly speaking the changes introduced in the new specification aim to address gaps in the existing collection system and to support easier and more consistent recording of data.
2.1 Changes to variables
The following variables have been changed in some way in the new specification, details of how can be found in the review document and the latest STATS20 guidance:
- Junction detail
- Pedestrian crossing
- Conditions or carriageway hazards
- Road surface condition
- Journey purpose of driver or rider
- Manoeuvres
- Vehicle location at time of collision - restricted lane or away from main carriageway
- Seat belts or child restraints in use
- Pedestrian road maintenance worker
For all of these variables it is possible to map from the old specification to the new one, so that data recorded in the old specification can be analysed using the 2024 format, but not (so easily) the other way around.
The following variables have also been slightly changed to improve the clarity of the variable descriptions. Initial analysis of these indicates that this has not had a substantial effect on the data being collected:
- Breath test
- Did vehicle stop at scene of collision
- Vehicle passenger position
- Helmet worn
2.2 New variables
The following variables were added in the 2024 specification as result of the 2018 STATS19 review. Initial results analysis of the data collected in for these variables can be found in this report:
- Driving licence appropriate for vehicle
- Drug test
2.3 Other changes
As part of the new specification an additional vehicle type category for powered personal transporters (PPT) have been introduced, this covers e-scooters and other micromobility technologies, previously these were categories as “other vehicles”. This change has not been explored here but the PPT category has been used to produce our latest factsheet on e-scooters.
The review also introduced road safety factors to replace contributory factors. A separate assessment of the impact of this change has been made in the guide to road safety factors.
Additionally, the new specification mandates the use of injury-based recording for casualty severity. Injury based reporting has been used by some police forces for a number of years. The introduction of injury-based recording has led to a change in the reported severity of road casualties, this is explored in detail in our guide to severity adjustments.
3. Important considerations
Throughout this report data that was collected in the previous specification is referred to as “2011 format”. With data collected in the new specification referred to as “2024 format”. The format of the data as used in this report is defined based on how the data is received by DfT. We are aware that some police forces are collecting data in 2011 format and converting this in internal systems, generally this data has been recorded as 2024 format in this analysis. We hope to work with police forces to understand exactly how their data is collected and subsequently update this analysis to better reflect data collection systems as they are implemented on the ground.
Many of the variables presented here contain a “no data” option these are collisions, casualties, or vehicles where the data received was not in the expected range for this variable. This may reflect challenges in the data collection or internal processing. We aim to review these no data values as part of our end of year validation processes for the 2025 statistics to identify what can be done to reduce the number of “no data” values. For the purposes of this analysis we would recommend considering “no data” to be broadly equivalent to “unknown”.
4. Main findings
Overall, the results presented in this report show that the impact of the new specification has had relatively little impact on most of the variables that have been adjusted, and in general where there have been changes this has served to improve the quality of the data being collected.
The are however some variables, most notable junction detail, where the introduction of the new specification appears to have caused some issues with data collection, resulting in potential discontinuities with the previous specification. This is an area where further analysis, and improvement to reporting guidance, may be required.
Regarding the newly introduced variables, this initial analysis suggests a mixed quality to their data collection with a high proportion of unknowns in the data. Where this data has been collected correctly it appears broadly in line with what would be expected based on other data sources.
5. Collision variables
Main finding: The changes introduced in the collision portion of the STATS19 record in the 2024 specification may have introduced some inconsistency in data collection, particularly around junction location where roundabouts have been removed from this variable, though further work is required to fully explore this.
The section below explores the impact of the change in specification on the changed variables that are part of the collision portion of the STATS19 record. These are:
- Junction detail
- Pedestrian crossing
- Conditions or carriageway hazards
5.1 Junction detail
The junction detail variable has been changed to remove the options for roundabouts and slip-roads as these are covered elsewhere in the STATS19 form. There are also several changes to the descriptions of the other options for this variable.
The proportion of collisions with each value recorded at a national level are shown in the chart below:
Chart 1 – Proportion of collisions by junction detail and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 9.1% | 7.8% |
| Not at or within 20 metres of junction | 41.2% | 48.9% |
| T or staggered junction | 30.8% | 24.4% |
| Crossroads | 9.9% | 8.5% |
| Junction with more than four arms (not roundabout) | 2.0% | 1.3% |
| Using private drive or entrance | 2.9% | 1.6% |
| Other junction | 4.1% | 7.5% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Chart 1 shows an apparent increase in the proportion of collisions assigned “not at junction” and “other junction” with a decrease in those assigned “T or staggered junction”.
However, these changes may be influenced by the fact that different police forces have different network characteristics and therefore these changes may just reflect the collision characteristics of the police forces that have moved to the 2024 format.
In order to reduce this effect chart 2 shows the proportion of collisions assigned each value for junction detail for 4 selected police forces: Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex. These 4 areas have similar road networks with 2 reporting data in 2024 format data and 2 still reporting 2011 format data.
Chart 2 – Proportion of collisions by junction detail and data collection specification, Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex police forces, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 9.1% |
| Not at or within 20 metres of junction | 55.6% | 51.3% |
| T or staggered junction | 32.0% | 23.9% |
| Crossroads | 7.2% | 5.9% |
| Junction with more than four arms (not roundabout) | 0.2% | 1.5% |
| Using private drive or entrance | 4.0% | 1.6% |
| Other junction | 1.0% | 6.7% |
Chart 2 shows that for these 4 forces a similar trend is seen as at the national level with an increase in “other junction” and “no data” with a decrease in collisions recorded as occurring at a “T or staggered junction”.
2 other forces of interest are Derbyshire and Cheshire. Both have moved to collecting 2024 format data during the period analysed and have approximately 50% of their data reported in each format. Data for Derbyshire and Cheshire is shown in charts 3 and 4 respectively.
Chart 3 – Proportion of collisions by junction detail and data collection specification, Derbyshire police force, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| Not at or within 20 metres of junction | 51.1% | 38.6% |
| T or staggered junction | 38.7% | 37.4% |
| Crossroads | 5.8% | 8.9% |
| Junction with more than four arms (not roundabout) | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Using private drive or entrance | 2.4% | 1.3% |
| Other junction | 1.5% | 11.9% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 0.0% | 1.1% |
Chart 4 – Proportion of collisions by junction detail and data collection specification, Cheshire police force, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 11.0% |
| Not at or within 20 metres of junction | 55.8% | 40.4% |
| T or staggered junction | 27.8% | 26.7% |
| Crossroads | 8.9% | 9.7% |
| Junction with more than four arms (not roundabout) | 0.8% | 2.0% |
| Using private drive or entrance | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| Other junction | 3.8% | 6.4% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 0.0% | 0.2% |
Charts 3 and 4 both show a sizeable decrease in the number of collisions recorded as occurring “Not at or within 20 metres of junction” in the 2024 specification data with an increase in the number recorded as “other junction” for both forces, and an increase in “no data” for Cheshire.
Taken in total these results indicate that the introduction of the 2024 specification has resulted in a step change in the recording of junction location. It is likely that the change is due to the removal of “roundabout” and “slip road” as an option for this variable. Collisions where “roundabout” or “slip road” was previously recorded as the junction detail should now be coded as “not at or within 20 metres of junction”, and in this analysis 2011 specification data recorded as occurring at a these locations has been converted to “not at or within 20 metres of junction”. However, it appears that different police forces may be implementing this change in different ways, in particular recording these collisions either as “other junction” or in a way that results in “no data” being recorded.
This would benefit from detailed investigation to explore the recorded location of 2024 format collisions recorded as “other junction” and “no data” to see what proportion of these are on roundabouts or slip roads.
5.2 Pedestrian crossing
In the 2011 specification the pedestrian crossing variable was split into two variables for human controlled crossings and physically controlled crossings (such as zebra and pelican crossings). In the 2024 specification these have been combined into a single variable. All data collected in the 2011 format can be directly converted to values in the 2024 specification.
Comparing data converted from the 2011 specification to the 2024 specification directly coded data, chart 5 shows proportion of collisions with each value at a national level.
Chart 5 – Proportion of collisions by pedestrian crossing and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.2% | 2.0% |
| No physical crossing facility within 50m | 63.7% | 80.4% |
| Human crossing control by school crossing patrol | 0.7% | 0.3% |
| Human crossing control by other authorised person | 1.3% | 0.7% |
| Zebra crossing | 6.0% | 2.8% |
| Pedestrian light crossing (pelican or puffin or toucan or similar) | 6.3% | 6.1% |
| Pedestrian phase at traffic signal | 10.6% | 4.8% |
| Footbridge or subway | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Central refuge - no other controls | 2.9% | 2.7% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 7.9% | 0.0% |
At national level this represents an increase in the number of collisions recorded as occurring more than 50 metres away from any physical crossing with a decrease in all other crossing types. As with junction location this may be driven by the characteristics of the road networks of the police forces that have moved to the 2024 specification.
The equivalent data for Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex are shown in Chart 6.
Chart 6 – Proportion of collisions by pedestrian crossing and data collection specification, Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex police forces, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 2.2% |
| No physical crossing facility within 50m | 82.9% | 79.5% |
| Human crossing control by school crossing patrol | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| Human crossing control by other authorised person | 0.1% | 1.1% |
| Zebra crossing | 2.6% | 2.5% |
| Pedestrian light crossing (pelican or puffin or toucan or similar) | 4.6% | 5.0% |
| Pedestrian phase at traffic signal | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Footbridge or subway | 0.6% | 0.3% |
| Central refuge - no other controls | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Looking at these 4 forces with similar road networks the impacts of the 2024 specification seem to be reduced compared to the national scale analysis. However, there is still a notable increase in the number of collisions with no data recorded for this variable.
Data for Derbyshire and Cheshire is presented in Charts 7 and 8 respectively to allow for a comparison for 2 force areas that have moved to the 2024 specification during 2024 and 2025.
Chart 7 – Proportion of collisions by pedestrian crossing and data collection specification, Derbyshire police force, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 2.5% |
| No physical crossing facility within 50m | 82.9% | 94.6% |
| Human crossing control by school crossing patrol | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Human crossing control by other authorised person | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| Zebra crossing | 1.0% | 0.2% |
| Pedestrian light crossing (pelican or puffin or toucan or similar) | 8.3% | 2.0% |
| Pedestrian phase at traffic signal | 5.8% | 0.5% |
| Footbridge or subway | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| Central refuge - no other controls | 1.5% | 0.2% |
Chart 8 – Proportion of collisions by pedestrian crossing and data collection specification, Cheshire police force, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 5.5% |
| No physical crossing facility within 50m | 82.7% | 80.3% |
| Human crossing control by school crossing patrol | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Human crossing control by other authorised person | 0.9% | 0.0% |
| Zebra crossing | 2.4% | 1.9% |
| Pedestrian light crossing (pelican or puffin or toucan or similar) | 5.7% | 7.2% |
| Pedestrian phase at traffic signal | 4.8% | 2.7% |
| Footbridge or subway | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Central refuge - no other controls | 3.3% | 1.9% |
Chart 7 shows that for Derbyshire there is a notable increase in the number of collisions recorded as occurring with no physical crossing facility within 50 metres when moving to the reporting 2024 specification data. There is also an increase in “no data” values and a sizeable decrease in all other types of crossings.
Chart 8 shows that in Cheshire the move to the new specification results in an increase in “no data” values with most crossing types staying at a similar level.
Overall, these results indicate that there is no clear impact of the move to the 2024 specification at a national level but that there may differing impacts at a force level.
5.3 Conditions or carriageway hazards
Conditions and carriageway hazards is a new variable in the 2024 specification formed as the combination of 3 variables from the 2011 specification; road surface condition, special conditions at site, and carriageway hazards. Road surface condition is retained in the 2024 specification but with the options for “Oil or diesel” or “Mud” removed as these are covered in the new “conditions and carriageway hazards” variable. Chart 9 shows the distribution of collisions assigned different values for this new variable comparing data collected directly in the 2024 specification to data collected in the 2011 specification and mapped to the new values.
Chart 9 – Proportion of collisions by conditions or carriageway hazards and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| None | 89.5% | 93.8% |
| Defective traffic signals | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| Permanent road signing or markings defective or obscured or inadequate | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Roadworks | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| Oil or diesel | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Mud | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Dislodged vehicle load in carriageway | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Other object in carriageway | 0.7% | 1.0% |
| Involvement with previous collision | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Pedestrian in carriageway - not injured | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Any animal in carriageway (except ridden horse) | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Poor or defective road surface | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 5.7% | 0.9% |
Chart 9 shows that for both specifications the vast majority of collisions are either recorded as “none” and there is also a sizeable portion of unknown self-reported data in the 2024 format. Therefore chart 10 shows this breakdown for the portion of collisions attended by a police officer and where the conditions or carriageway hazards was not recorded as “none”.
Chart 10 – Proportion of collisions where a police officer attended the scene by conditions or carriageway hazards and data collection specification, with values of “none” excluded, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| Defective traffic signals | 9.0% | 5.5% |
| Permanent road signing or markings defective or obscured or inadequate | 2.7% | 5.8% |
| Roadworks | 27.1% | 23.4% |
| Oil or diesel | 2.6% | 3.0% |
| Mud | 5.8% | 8.7% |
| Dislodged vehicle load in carriageway | 7.2% | 3.4% |
| Other object in carriageway | 21.5% | 23.7% |
| Involvement with previous collision | 3.8% | 4.8% |
| Pedestrian in carriageway - not injured | 8.6% | 2.9% |
| Any animal in carriageway (except ridden horse) | 7.1% | 6.5% |
| Poor or defective road surface | 4.5% | 10.7% |
| Unknown (self rep only) | 0.1% | 0.0% |
Chart 10 shows that there is not much change in this variable as a results of moving to the 2024 specification. There are some fluctuations in individual values but the overall pattern of which values are reported most frequently remains the same.
6. Vehicle variables
Main finding: The changes introduced in the vehicle portion of the STATS19 record in the 2024 specification appear in general to have improved the quality of the data being collected with most of these variables showing little change or a reduction in the proportion of unknowns.
The section below explores the impact of the change in specification on the changed variables that are part of the vehicle portion of the STATS19 record. These are:
- Journey purpose of driver or rider
- Manoeuvres
- Vehicle location at time of collision
6.1 Journey purpose of driver or rider
In the 2024 specification the journey purpose variable has been modified so that the existing categories better align with the categories in the National Travel Survey (NTS), as well as to add a new category for “personal business or leisure”. Chart 11 shows the proportion of vehicles assigned to each value in the 2011 and 2024 specifications.
Chart 11 – Proportion of vehicles by journey purpose and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 3.0% | 0.1% |
| Journey as part of work | 14.4% | 12.4% |
| Commuting to or from work | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| Not known or not requested | 70.9% | 46.1% |
| Education and educational escort | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Emergency vehicle (blue light) on response | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Personal business or leisure | 0.0% | 29.5% |
Chart 11 shows that the majority of the values have shown little change. The exception to this is a decrease in collisions recorded as “not known or not requested” with a corresponding increase in collisions recorded as “personal business or leisure”. This indicates that the “personal business or leisure” is largely collecting data for vehicles where the journey purpose was previously not known, implying an overall improvement in data quality.
6.2 Manoeuvres
In the 2024 specification the vehicle manoeuvre variable has been adjusted to improve the descriptions of some values and the combine what was previously 3 options for “going ahead” (“going ahead left-hand bend”, “going ahead right-hand bend”, and “going ahead other”) into a single option.
Chart 12 shows the proportion of vehicles assigned each manoeuvre value in both the 2011 and 2024 specifications:
Chart 12 – Proportion of vehicles by manoeuvre and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 6.2% | 2.9% |
| Reversing | 1.5% | 1.3% |
| Parked | 4.4% | 5.0% |
| Waiting to go ahead | 4.7% | 4.1% |
| Slowing or stopping | 6.0% | 5.7% |
| Moving off | 5.2% | 5.3% |
| U-turn | 0.9% | 0.6% |
| Turning left | 3.8% | 3.3% |
| Waiting to turn left | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Turning right | 10.3% | 8.7% |
| Waiting to turn right | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Changing lane to left | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| Changing lane to right | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| Over taking moving vehicle on its offside | 2.2% | 1.8% |
| Overtaking stationary vehicle on its offside | 1.2% | 0.8% |
| Overtaking on nearside (passengers side nearest kerb) | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| Going ahead | 49.5% | 56.0% |
| Parking | 0.0% | 0.2% |
Chart 12 shows that for the majority of the manoeuvres there is little change as a result of the introduction of the 2024 specification. The exception to this would be the apparent increase in the proportion of vehicles recorded as “going ahead”. This appears to be linked to a reduction in the proportion of vehicles with no data recorded.
6.3 Vehicle location at time of collision
There is a higher-than-expected proportion of “no data” values for vehicle location in the 2024 format due to a processing error which incorrectly caused collisions recorded as lay-by or hard shoulder to be recorded as no data. Consideration should be given to this error when analysing the data presented below.
The 2024 specification changed the vehicle location variable to remove one redundant option that is not well used and to combine several similar options into a smaller number of choices to simplify the options. Approximately 20% of the 2011 specification data for this variable is recorded as “unknown – self reported” therefore the following analysis is based on only collisions where a police officer attended the scene of the collision.
Chart 13 shows the proportion of vehicles assigned each value for the vehicle location in the converted 2024 specification data and the converted 2011 specification data:
Chart 13 – Proportion of vehicles by vehicle location at time of collision and data collection specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 1.3% |
| On main carriageway (not in restricted lane) | 95.3% | 95.6% |
| Tram or Light rail track | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Bus lane or Busway | 1.1% | 0.2% |
| Cycle lane (on main carriageway) | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Cycleway or shared use footway (not part of main carriageway) | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Lay-by or hard shoulder | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| Footway (pavement) | 1.8% | 2.3% |
Chart 13 shows that there is little change in the values recorded as a result of the move to the new specification.
7. Casualty variables
Main finding: The changes introduced in the casualty portion of the STATS19 record in the 2024 specification have only had a minor impact on the data collected but in general this seems to be an improvement with a reduced proportion of unknowns in the data.
The section below explores the impact of the change in specification on the changed variables that are part of the casualty portion of the STATS19 record. These are:
- Seat belts or child restraints in use
- Pedestrian road maintenance worker
7.1 Seat belts or child restraints in use
The seat belt and child restraint question has been modified in the 2024 specification to make it applicable to a larger number of casualties. Previously reporting of this value was mandatory for fatal car occupants but forces could voluntarily report it for other casualties.
Charts 14 and 15 show the levels of reporting for this variable for casualties that were in and out of scope in the 2011 specification respectively.
Chart 14 – Proportion of casualties by seatbelt status and data collection specification for casualties in scope in the 2011 collection, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.0% | 5.1% |
| Not applicable | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Not worn | 12.4% | 16.8% |
| Unknown | 54.4% | 21.9% |
| Worn and independently confirmed | 20.7% | 25.0% |
| Worn but not independently confirmed | 11.6% | 30.7% |
Chart 15 – Proportion of casualties by seatbelt status and data collection specification for casualties out of scope of the 2011 collection, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.3% | 3.9% |
| Not applicable | 54.3% | 35.2% |
| Not worn | 1.7% | 2.8% |
| Unknown | 20.4% | 18.6% |
| Worn and independently confirmed | 5.6% | 10.3% |
| Worn but not independently confirmed | 17.7% | 29.2% |
Chart 14 shows that there has been an apparent improvement in the level of reporting for those that would have been in scope previously (fatal car occupant) as a result of the introduction of the new specification – as shown by the reduction in the proportion of unknown values.
Chart 15 shows that there is also an increased level of reporting for casualties that were out of scope previously – with a reduction in “not applicable” values. It should be noted that this analysis includes all casualties including pedestrians and other non-vehicle occupants therefore a level of “not applicable” is to be expected.
7.2 Pedestrian road maintenance worker
The pedestrian road maintenance worker question has been modified in the 2024 specification in order to make improve the clarity of the question. Chart 16 shows the proportion of casualites assigned to each value in the new and old specification.
Chart 16 – Proportion of casualties by pedestrian road maintenance worker status and data collection, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | 2011 Format | 2024 Format |
|---|---|---|
| No data | 0.2% | 4.0% |
| Emergency service worker | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Not applicable | 98.3% | 73.7% |
| Not known | 1.1% | 20.2% |
| Road maintenance or Utility worker | 0.5% | 1.9% |
| Vehicle recovery or Breakdown worker | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Chart 16 shows that the change to the pedestrian road maintenance worker variable has led to an overall improvement in data collection, with a reduction in the proportion of “not applicable” values that are recorded, although with an increase in the not known and no data categories.
8. New variables
Main finding: The new variables introduced in the 2024 STATS19 specification have seen a mix level of data collection with a relatively high number of drivers reported as unknown for the driving licence and drug test variables. Where this data has been collected correctly it appears broadly in line with what would be expected based on other data sources, but more work appears to be required to improve recording of these new data items.
The variables analysed in the following section were newly introduced in the 2024 specification. The results here represent an initial analysis of the data that has been collected
8.1 Driving licence appropriate for vehicle
Driving licence appropriate for vehicle was added to the STATS19 specification as part of the latest review. This variable allows the police to report if the driver was using a full or provisional licence or if they were unlicenced. As well as containing an option for where this data is not collected. Chart 17 shows the distribution of this data where the collision was collected in the 2024 specification.
Chart 17 – Proportion of vehicles by driving licence type where the collision was reported in the 2024 specification, Great Britain, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | Drivers |
|---|---|
| No data | 1.6% |
| Full | 58.6% |
| Not known or not required | 38.5% |
| Provisional | 1.0% |
| Unlicensed | 0.3% |
Chart 17 shows that there are a substantial proportion of drivers (approximately 40%) where this value is recorded as “not known or not required”. Of the remaining drivers the vast majority are recorded as holding a full licence.
8.2 Drug test
Roadside drug tests for cannabis and cocaine have become available and where these are used reporting of the result is included in the 2024 STATS19 specification. Initial results from these tests are shown in chart 18.
Chart 18 – Proportion of vehicles by drug test result where the collision was reported in the 2024 specification, January 2024 to June 2025
| Value | Drivers |
|---|---|
| No data | 20.9% |
| Not applicable (P1) | 26.3% |
| Positive | 0.9% |
| Negative | 5.6% |
| Not requested | 26.0% |
| Refused to provide | 0.1% |
| Driver not contacted at time of collision | 15.2% |
| Not provided (medical reasons) | 2.5% |
| Device or test not available (P2) | 2.5% |
Chart 18 shows a mixed level of reporting for this new variable, with 21% of drivers recorded as “no data” and a further 26% recorded as “not applicable”. STATS20 guidance indicates that not applicable should only be used where the driver in question would not be subject to the drug driving laws (for example, they are a pedal cyclist). This indicates that this option is likely being used where no drug test was taken instead of the “not requested” option which should be used in this case. Overall while this variable may provide some useful information the collection appears to be limited by confusion around which options should be selected.
9. Conclusions and next steps
The analysis presented in this note has shown that the majority of the changes introduced in the 2024 specification have had only a small effect on the collection, and generally the mapping to old specification to the new one have resulted in an improvement in the data collected.
However there are some variables, notably the junction detail variable, where there is more of a change in the results due to the new specification. Caution should be exercised when analysing any trends in the affected variables to ensure that any trends are not simply an artefact of the change in specification.
Considering the new variables specifically this initial analysis shows that they have the potential to provide additional insights into road traffic collisions but currently have a high proportion of unknown data which limits any such analysis.
9.1 Next steps
As noted above the changes introduced as part of the 2024 STATS19 specification have generally been an improvement however there have been some areas where there have been issues and possible confusion related to the new specification.
We aim to explore what further guidance we can offer to police forces in order to continue to improve the data collection.
We also aim to revisit this analysis as more police forces move to collecting data in the 2024 format to allow for a full assessment of the changes at a national level.
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12. Contact details
Road safety statistics
Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk