Accredited official statistics

Reported road casualties Great Britain: fatal 4 - seatbelts factsheet, 2025

Published 24 September 2026

About this release

This factsheet presents statistics on seatbelt use among car occupant casualties in Great Britain.

The recording of seatbelt use is only mandatory for car occupants fatalities. It may also be recorded for car occupants with other injury severities. Most analyses in this factsheet focus on car occupant fatalities. The changes-over-time and age analyses also include car occupant casualties with other injury severities.

Seatbelt use is recorded by STATS 19 as worn and independently confirmed, worn but not independently confirmed, not worn, not applicable and unknown. For this factsheet seatbelt use is categorised as wearing and non-wearing. Wearing category includes the “worn and independently confirmed” and “worn but not independently confirmed” categories. The unknown and not applicable categories were merged into one “unknown” category.

1. Main findings

This factsheet shows that:

• there has been no clear increase or decrease in seatbelt non-wearing among car occupant casualties since 2015

• among car occupant fatalities, seatbelt non-wearing was most common for people aged 25 to 34, at 37%. From age 17 onwards, it was also more common among male fatalities than female fatalities

• between 11pm and 6am, an average of 43% of car occupant fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt, compared with 20% between 6am and 11pm

• rear seat passengers had the highest percentage not wearing a seatbelt, at 40%.

• seatbelt non-wearing was generally more common among fatalities from more deprived areas

• seatbelt non-wearing was more common by casualties closer to their home postcode

2. Long-term trend

Chart 1 shows the percentage of car occupant casualties who were not wearing a seatbelt by casualty severity and year:

• there has been no ultimate clear increase or decrease in seatbelt non-wearing since 2015

Chart 1: Percentage of car occupant casualties not wearing a seatbelt by casualty severity and year, Great Britain, 2015 to 2025

3. Casualty demographics

3.1 Age

Chart 2 shows the percentage of car occupant casualties who were not wearing a seatbelt, by age group and casualty severity:

• among fatalities, the percentage not wearing a seatbelt was highest for people aged 25 to 34, at 37%, this was followed by people aged 17 to 24, at 35%

• the percentage was generally lower for older age groups

• a similar age pattern can be seen among killed or seriously injured casualties and casualties of all severities

Chart 2: Percentage of car occupant casualties not wearing a seatbelt by age group and casualty severity, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025.

3.2 Sex

Chart 3 shows the percentage of male and female car occupant fatalities who were not wearing a seatbelt, by age group:

• for every age group from age 17 onwards, the percentage not wearing a seatbelt was higher for males than for females

• in the age group 25 to 34, 45% of male fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt, compared with 14% of female fatalities

Chart 3: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by age group and sex, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025.

3.3 Deprivation

Chart 4 shows the percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt in each IMD deprivation decile, calculated as a proportion of all car occupant fatalities in that decile:

• seatbelt non-wearing was generally more common among fatalities from more deprived areas than among those from the least deprived area

Chart 4: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by deprivation decile of home address, England, 2021 to 2025.

4. Collision circumstances

4.1 Road type

Table 1 shows the percentage of car occupant fatalities who were not wearing a seatbelt, by road type:

• the percentage of fatalities not wearing a seatbelt was highest on roads in urban areas, at 37%

• this compared with 24% on motorways and 21% on roads in rural areas

Table 1: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by road type, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025

Road type	Fatalities non-wearing %
Motorways	24
Roads in rural areas	21
Roads in urban areas	37

4.2 Time of day

Chart 5 shows the percentage of car occupant fatalities who were not wearing a seatbelt, by the hour of the day when the collision happened:

• the percentage not wearing a seatbelt was generally highest during the night and early morning

• between 11pm and 6am the average percentage of seatbelt non-wearing of car occupant fatalities was 43%, compared to 20% between 6am and 11pm

• the percentage was highest at 3am, at 52%

• the percentage was lowest at 3pm, at 9%

Chart 5: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by hour of the day, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025.

4.3 Seating position

Table 2 shows the percentage of car occupant fatalities who were not wearing a seatbelt, by seating position:

• rear seat passengers had the highest percentage not wearing a seatbelt, at 40%

• this compared with 23% of drivers and 21% of front seat passengers

Table 2: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by seating position, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025.

Passenger type	Fatalities non-wearing %
Driver	23
Front seat passenger	21
Rear seat passenger	40

4.4 Distance from home

Chart 6 shows the percentage of car occupant fatalities who were not wearing a seatbelt within each distance from casualty’s home interval:

• seatbelt non-wearing was generally higher for fatalities in collisions closer to a casualty’s home postcode

• the percentage not wearing a seatbelt was highest for fatalities in collisions under 1 mile from home, at 35%

Chart 6: Percentage of car occupant fatalities not wearing a seatbelt by distance from home, Great Britain, 2021 to 2025

5. Strengths and limitations

STATS19 data provides a long time series of data, collected by the police using agreed guidance and specification for fatalities.

As noted above, information on seatbelt wearing is currently only recorded for car occupant fatalities, with a relatively high degree of missing data. In addition, the police recording is likely to be based on information available within a short time of the collision, rather than a detailed forensic collision investigation. However, information obtained from police by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) based on more in-depth investigation showed broadly similar figures. Further details are available in PACTS report.

About this data

Detailed information about the data used in this chapter, including its strengths and limitations, can be found in the guidance pages.

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.

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.

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Contact details

Road safety statistics

Email roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk

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