Reported road casualties Great Britain: fatal 4 - mobile device factsheet, 2025
Published 24 September 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-fatal-4-factsheet/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-fatal-4-mobile-device-factsheet-2025
About this release
This factsheet presents key statistics on collisions in collisions in Great Britain involving drivers or riders using a mobile device. Driving while using a mobile device is one category of the Fatal 4.
This factsheet uses Road Safety Factor (RSF) data, which helps explain why and how road collisions occur. RSFs were introduced in 2023 to replace Contributory Factors (CFs) and are being phased in gradually. This factsheet only uses data provided by police forces that were directly recording RSFs for 2024 to 2025. This may not be representative of national trends. Further information about RSFs and CFs, including the impact of the change between the two reporting systems, is available in the RSF and CF guidance. RSF percentages presented in this chapter are based only on records where at least one RSF was assigned, rather than all reported collisions or casualties.
1. Main findings
This factsheet shows:
-
3% of fatal collisions and 2% of fatal or serious collisions (FSCs) involved at least one driver or rider assigned the “using mobile device” RSF.
-
By time of day, the distribution of FSCs involving drivers or riders assigned the “using mobile device” RSF was similar to that of all FSCs, with most occurring in the afternoon.
-
Most FSCs involving drivers or riders assigned the “using mobile device” RSF occurred on rural roads (51%), followed by urban roads (44%) and motorways (5%).
-
Car drivers formed the largest group assigned the “using mobile device” RSF, followed by van drivers.
-
The age distribution of drivers or riders assigned the “using mobile device” RSF was concentrated among those aged 17 to 44 and declined with age.
2. Collision severity
Table 1 shows that 3% of fatal collisions involved drivers assigned the “using mobile device” RSF. This is slightly higher compared to fatal or serious collisions (FSC) and collisions of all seventies.
Table 1: Percentage of all reported collisions involving mobile device use while driving, by collision severity, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
| Severity | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Fatal | 3% |
| FSC | 2% |
| All collisions | 2% |
3. Collision characteristics
3.1 Time of collision
FSCs involving driving while using a mobile device follow a similar distribution to all FSCs, with the majority of collisions occurring in the afternoon. There were no clear trends for driving while using a mobile device by day-of-week or month-of-year.
Chart 1: Distribution of reported FSCs involving mobile device use while driving, compared with all FSCs by hour, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
3.2 Road environment
Most FSCs involving mobile device use were on rural roads (51%), followed by urban roads (44%), with a much smaller share on motorways (5%).
Table 2: Distribution of FSCs with at least one RSF assigned by road type, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
| Distribution | Motorways | Urban | Rural | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile device-related collisions | 5% | 44% | 51% | 100% |
| All collisions with at least one RSF assigned | 3% | 56% | 41% | 100% |
3% of motorway FSCs involved a driver or rider using a mobile device, compared with 2% on rural roads and 1% on urban roads.
Table 3: FSCs involving mobile device use while driving, as a share of all FSCs with at least one RSF assigned by road type, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
| Road type | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Motorways | 3% |
| Urban | 1% |
| Rural | 2% |
4. Drivers and riders
Percentages in this section are based on driver or rider vehicles in fatal or serious collisions (FSCs) assigned the “usign mobile device” RSF, compared to driver or rider vehicles with at least one directly-recorded RSF assigned.
Most drivers or riders assigned the “using mobile device” RSF were car drivers, followed by van drivers. Both groups were over-represented relative to the distribution of all drivers or riders assigned at least one RSF in FSCs.
Within FSCs, 4% of van drivers assigned at least one RSF were assigned “using mobile device”, compared with 2% of car drivers.
Chart 2: Drivers or riders with the “mobile device use” RSF assigned compared with all drivers or riders with at least one RSF assigned in FSCs by vehicle type, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
Most drivers or riders assigned the “using mobile device” RSF in FSCs were aged 17 to 44, with the largest share among those aged 25 to 34 (27%), followed by 35 to 44 (24%) and 17 to 24 (22%). Compared with all drivers or riders assigned at least one RSF, mobile device use was over-represented among people aged 17 to 44, and under-represented among older age groups.
As a share within each age group, around 2% of drivers or riders aged 17 to 44 with at least one RSF in FSCs were assigned the “using mobile device” RSF. This fell to around 1% for ages 45 to 74, and was close to 0% for those aged 75 and over.
Chart 3: Drivers or riders with the “mobile device use” RSF assigned compared with all drivers or riders with at least one RSF assigned in FSCs by age, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
Drivers or riders assigned the “mobile device use” RSF in FSCs were predominantly male (74%), with females accounting for 26%. The pattern was broadly similar to all drivers or riders assigned at least one RSF in FSCs, though females made up a slightly higher share in the mobile device group.
Table 4: Distribution of drivers or riders with the “mobile device use” RSF assigned in FSCs compared with all drivers or riders assigned at least one RSF in FSCs by sex, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
| Distribution | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drivers or riders using a mobile device | 74% | 26% | 100% |
| All drivers or riders with at least one RSF assigned | 76% | 24% | 100% |
Around 2% of both male and female drivers or riders in FSCs with at least one RSF assigned were assigned the “using mobile device” RSF.
Table 5: Drivers or riders with the “mobile device use” RSF assigned in FSCs as a share of all drivers or riders assigned at least one RSF in FSCs by sex, Great Britain, 2024 to 2025
| Sex | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Male | 2% |
| Female | 2% |
5. About this data
Detailed information about the data used in this chapter, including its strengths and limitations, can be found in the guidance pages.
5.1 STATS19 data
The statistics in this publication are based on data collected through the STATS19 system, which records personal injury road collisions on public roads in Great Britain. STATS19 data are reported to the Department for Transport by police forces using a common national specification, allowing consistent analysis across time and geography. All collisions reported by the police within 30 days and that occurred on a public highway involving at least one motor vehicle, horse rider or pedal cyclist, and where at least one person was injured, are included in these statistics.
STATS19 is the primary source used to understand long-term trends in road collisions and casualties, and to monitor and evaluate road safety policies and interventions. Its standardised approach enables comparison at local, regional and national level, and provides a long-running time series underpinning road safety analysis.
There is no obligation for people to report all personal injury collisions to the police, and not all collisions are reported to the police, particularly those involving only slight injuries, meaning some types of incidents are under recorded. Therefore these figures do not represent the full range of collisions or casualties in Great Britain.
The quality and completeness of the data can also vary, especially for variables based on officer judgement at the scene. Changes to data collection systems, guidance or reporting practices over time may also affect comparability of trends. For example, recent updates to the STATS19 specification (including the introduction of new variables) may lead to discontinuities in some data series.
5.2 Injury severity reporting
The figures in this release for injured casualties are based on adjusting figures reported by the police to take account of changes in the reporting of injury severity by some police forces in recent years. These adjusted figures can reliably be used to compare trends over time across the country. More details can be found in our severity adjustments guidance.
5.3 Road safety factors and contributory factors
When police officers attend the scene of a collision, they can select up to 6 factors they believe contributed to the collision and assign them to vehicles, casualties or uninjured pedestrians involved. This is based on the police officer’s professional judgement and before a full investigation.
The number of RSFs recorded is impacted by the number of road casualty collisions which occur and the number of collisions in which a police officer has attended and records an RSF. To account for this, data has been presented as the percentage of collisions with an RSF assigned. Because a collision can be assigned multiple factors, the percentages presented may sum to more than 100%.
In 2025, 75% of eligible collisions had RSFs recorded rather than CFs. To avoid presenting misleading data, directly recorded and converted RSFs have been presented alongside each other with 2024 as the changeover year. Differences between the converted and directly recorded RSFs may reflect changes in data collection and recording practices, meaning comparisons between the two series should be interpreted with caution.
Further information about RSFs and CFs, including the impact of the change between the two reporting systems, is available in the RSF and CF guidance.
6. Instructions for printing and saving
Depending on which browser you use and the type of device you use (such as a mobile or laptop) these instructions may vary.
Tablets and mobile devices normally have the option to “find in text” and “print or save” in their sharing or quick options menu of their browser, but this will vary by device model.
7. How to search
Select Ctrl and F on a Windows laptop or Command and F on a Mac
This will open a search box in the top right-hand corner of the page. Type the word you are looking for in the search bar and press enter.
Your browser will highlight the word, usually in yellow, wherever it appears on the page. Press enter to move to the next place it appears.
8. Contact details
Road safety statistics
Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk
To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) at DfTstats.