Reported road casualties Great Britain: older drivers factsheet 2020
Published 25 May 2022
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This factsheet gives key statistics for older car drivers (aged 70 and over) involved in police reported road accidents involving personal injury in Great Britain up to 2020. Older car drivers are a notable set of road users because of the ageing population and also the increase in older driving licence holders. The factsheet examines the main trends on reported road collisions involving at least one older car driver and the casualties involved in these collisions.
‘Any age car drivers’ include drivers with an unknown age. Unless otherwise stated, figures for drivers relate to car drivers only, and older road users are those aged 70 and over.
The recent trends in reported road casualties have been impacted by the national restrictions implemented from March 2020 onwards following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More information can be found in our release on the impact of lockdown on reported road casualties in Great Britain.
Key findings
Between 2016 and 2020, older people with a full driving licence increased by 23.6% from 4.5 to 5.6 million.
The number of killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver in Great Britain rose slightly between 2011 and 2019, ranging between 3,000 to 3,500 per year. In 2020, there was a large drop in the number of KSI casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver to 2,116.
Overall 42.6% of contributory factors attributed to older car drivers in collisions relate to “driver failed to look properly”, compared to 35.7% for all drivers.
Older car drivers on the roads
Licensed drivers
In 2020, there were 5.6 million older people with a full driving licence in Great Britain. This accounted for around 14% of all full car licence holders (Chart 1).
Between 2016 and 2020, older people with a full driving licence increased both in licence numbers (23.6% from 4.5 to 5.6 million) and as a percentage of all people with full driving licences (1.9 percentage points from 11.7 to 13.6).
In the same period, the older population rose by 12% from 8.0 million to 8.9 million, whilst the percentage of older people with a full driving licence increased by 6 percentage points from 57% to 62%.
An additional 17,986 older people held a provisional driving licence in 2020.
Chart 1: Number of older people (millions) with a full driving licence and as a percentage of all people with a driving licence (DVLA), 2016 to 2020
Female car drivers make up a smaller proportion of total licence holders compared to male drivers, with a greater difference seen for older drivers (44% for females and 56% for males) relative to all drivers (Table 1).
Table 1: Number and percentage of older car drivers and all car drivers with a full driving licence by sex, 2020
| Sex | Older | Older (%) | All | All (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 2.4 million | 43.6 | 19.0 million | 46.2 |
| Male | 3.1 million | 56.4 | 22.1 million | 53.8 |
| Total | 5.6 million | 100.0 | 41.0 million | 100.0 |
DVLA driver licence data
The presence of a valid driving entitlement does not mean that all individuals are actively driving, are residing in the UK or have not deceased. Neither the DVLA nor DfT would recommend that users rely on these data being a true reflect of the number of active drivers in Great Britain.
Driver mileage
Older people in England are estimated to drive fewer miles per person per year compared with the total population. On average in 2020, older car or van drivers drove 1,665 miles per year in comparison with 2,323 miles for all drivers (Table 2).
Table 2: Car distance (miles) travelled for older car drivers and all car drivers by sex, 2020 NTS0601
| Sex | Older | All |
|---|---|---|
| Female | 1,065 | 1,760 |
| Male | 2,380 | 2,897 |
| All | 1,665 | 2,323 |
National Travel Survey (NTS)
The National Travel Survey collects information about personal travel within Great Britain, by residents of private households in England, along the public highway. Travel off-road, or for commercial purposes (to deliver goods or passengers) is not included.
Due to changes in the methodology of data collection, changes in travel behaviour and a reduction of data collected during 2020, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, care should be taken when interpreting this data and comparing to other years, due to the small sample sizes.
Older driver casualties
Older car driver casualties by severity
Table 3: Older driver casualties by severity, Great Britain, 2011 to 2020
| Severity | 2020 | % change from 2019 | % change from 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatal | 90 | -37.1 | -18.9 |
| KSI (adjusted) | 760 | -36.5 | -25.8 |
| All Severities | 3,259 | -35.5 | -33.9 |
Older car driver casualties by age and sex
In 2020, male drivers accounted for considerably higher proportion of older car driver casualties, with the difference between male and female drivers increasing with severity. This is similar to the differences seen for all drivers, however the split between male and female older drivers is smaller for fatal and KSI casualties and larger for all severities.
Table 4: Proportion of driver casualties by severity, sex and age, Great Britain, 2020
| Driver type | Fatal | KSI (adjusted) | All severities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Older female drivers | 31.1 | 36.3 | 37.1 |
| Older male drivers | 68.9 | 63.7 | 62.9 |
| All older drivers | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| All female drivers (any age) | 24.5 | 34.7 | 42.4 |
| All male drivers (any age) | 75.5 | 65.3 | 57.6 |
| All drivers (any age) | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Older road user casualty rates by type
Chart 2 shows that older casualty rates are lowest for car or van occupants at 201 passenger and 233 driver casualties per billion miles travelled. The next lowest is bus occupants with 289 casualties per billion miles travelled. The road user types which carry the most risk for older people are motorcyclists, pedal cyclists and pedestrians with casualty rates of 1,833, 1,711 and 1,014 per billion miles travelled respectively.
Chart 2: Older casualty rates per billion miles travelled by road user type, England, 2020
Collisions involving older car drivers
Driver involvement in collisions by age
Between ages 17 and 75, the rate of car or van drivers involved in collisions per billion vehicle miles travelled falls with driver age from 1,384 (drivers aged 17 to 24) to 211 (drivers aged 71 to 75). The rate increases in age between ages 76 to 85, before rising sharply to the highest rate (2,014) for any group for drivers 86 and over (Chart 3a).
The number of drivers involved in collisions decreases with age (Chart 3b). However, miles travelled rises as drivers get older, peaking with drivers in their late-fifties, and then falls (Chart 3c). As a result, the high collision rates for older drivers is associated with very low mileage and low number of collisions.
Chart 3: Rate of car or van drivers involved in collisions per billion miles travelled (Chart 3a), number of car or van drivers involved in collisions (Chart 3b), miles driven per person (Chart 3c), England, 2020
Number of casualties in older driver collisions
The number of KSI casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver in Great Britain rose slightly between 2011 and 2019, ranging from between around 3,000 to 3,500 (Chart 4a). In the same period, casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver as a percentage of KSI casualties from all collisions increased from 10.5% to 13.6% (Chart 4b).
In 2020, there was a large drop in the number of KSI casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver to 2,116. There was also a corresponding decrease in casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver as a percentage of KSI casualties from all collisions to 11.2%.
There was a small increase in KSI older driver casualties between 2011 and 2019, before dropping to 760 in 2020.
Chart 4: KSI (adjusted) casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver (Chart 4a) and as a percentage of casualties from collisions involving any age driver (Chart 4b), Great Britain, 2011 to 2020
Table 5 shows the percentage change between 2019 and 2020 for casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver is similar across severities. However, relative to 2011, the drop seen in 2020 was smaller for fatal and KSI casualties compared with all severities.
Casualties in collisions involving at least one older driver saw a larger drop from 2019 to 2020 than casualties in any collision. However the change from 2011 to 2020 was greater for overall collisions (involving any car driver) than those involving older drivers, except for fatalities.
Table 5: Casualties from collisions by severity and older driver involvement, Great Britain, 2020, percentage change from 2019, and percentage change from 2011
| Collisions involving | Severity | 2020 | % change from 2019 | % change from 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least one older driver | Fatal | 174 | -38.1 | -29.3 |
| At least one older driver | KSI | 2,116 | -37.5 | -31.3 |
| At least one older driver | All Severities | 9,512 | -34.8 | -39.8 |
| Any age driver | Fatal | 1,116 | -17.5 | -26.6 |
| Any age driver | KSI | 18,964 | -24.0 | -35.2 |
| Any age driver | All Severities | 102,274 | -25.5 | -44.2 |
Casualties in cars and vans driven by an older driver
The KSI casualty rate for casualties in cars or vans driven by older drivers rose gradually between 2011 and 2019, though for casualties of all severities the equivalent rate remained broadly stable over this period. In contrast, there were declines in both the KSI and all severities casualty rates for cars or vans driven by drivers of any age.
There was a sharp decrease in all casualty rates during 2020, with a greater fall in rates for casualties in vehicles driven by an older driver compared with rates for casualties in vehicles driven by a driver of any age.
Chart 5: Casualty rate per billion miles by driver age and casualty severity, England, 2011 to 2020
Table 6: Casualty rate per billion miles by driver age of vehicle and casualty severity, England, 2020, percentage change from 2019, and percentage change from 2011
| Collisions involving | Severity | 2020 | % change from 2019 | % change from 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least one older driver | Fatal | 6 | -44.2 | -27.0 |
| At least one older driver | KSI | 60 | -38.6 | -30.1 |
| At least one older driver | All Severities | 256 | -34.9 | -35.6 |
| Any age driver | Fatal | 3 | -19.8 | -27.0 |
| Any age driver | KSI | 51 | -24.9 | -34.6 |
| Any age driver | All Severities | 329 | -27.4 | -45.0 |
Road type
In 2020, rural roads carried the highest proportion of car traffic at 43%, followed by urban roads (41%).
Although motorways carry 17% of traffic, they only account for 2% of casualties from collisions involving at least one older driver (regardless of severity). Consequently, urban and rural roads together account for a disproportionate number of casualties. As severity decreases, the percentage of casualties that occur on urban roads decrease, whilst the figure for rural roads increases.
For fatal casualties from collisions involving at least one older driver, 67% were on rural roads and 30% were on urban roads. For casualties of all severities, just over half (51%) were on urban roads and 46% on rural roads.
Chart 6: Percentage of reported car traffic (for drivers of all ages) by road type and reported road casualties by road type and severity, Great Britain, 2020
Note: Chart 6 excludes unknown road types.
Table 7: Number and percentage of casualties from collisions by older driver involvement and severity, Great Britain, 2020
| Road type | Fatal | Fatal (%) | KSI adjusted | KSI adjusted (%) | All severities | All severities (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorways | 4 | 2.3 | 52 | 2.5 | 227 | 2.4 |
| Urban | 53 | 30.5 | 952 | 45.0 | 4,891 | 51.4 |
| Rural | 117 | 67.2 | 1,111 | 52.5 | 4,393 | 46.2 |
Compared to KSI casualties from collisions involving any car driver, KSI casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver disproportionally occur on rural roads and a smaller percentage occur on urban roads and motorways.
Table 8: Percentage of KSI (adjusted) casualties by older car driver involvement and road type, Great Britain, 2020
| Collisions involving | Motorways | Rural | Urban |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any age driver | 3.1 | 40.4 | 56.5 |
| At least one older driver | 2.5 | 52.5 | 45.0 |
Reported car traffic
Traffic refers to the total distance travelled by cars and taxis, measured in vehicle miles. This combines the number of cars and taxis on the road, and how far they travel. Traffic estimates for Great Britain are published. Road traffic trends during 2020 have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the UK.
Urban and rural definition
Urban roads are those within an area of population of 10,000 or more. The definition is based on the 2011 census data which uses a revised 2001 Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities definition of Urban Settlements. Roads outside these areas will be classified as Rural.
Time and day
Across weekdays, KSI casualties from collisions involving older car drivers increase throughout the week from 13.5% occurring on Mondays to 16.2% on Fridays. There are fewer KSI casualties at weekends, with 13.3% and 12.3% of KSI casualties occurring on Saturdays and Sundays respectively.
Table 9: Percentage of KSI (adjusted) casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver by day of the week, Great Britain, 2010 to 2019
| Day | % of casualties |
|---|---|
| Monday | 13.5 |
| Tuesday | 14.6 |
| Wednesday | 14.9 |
| Thursday | 15.3 |
| Friday | 16.2 |
| Saturday | 13.3 |
| Sunday | 12.3 |
The majority (84% for weekdays, 82% for weekends) of KSI casualties from collisions involving older car drivers occurred between 9am and 6pm (Chart 7a). Casualties on weekdays were higher in the afternoon and peak between 4pm and 5pm. However, mornings see a greater number of casualties on weekends, peaking between 12pm and 1pm.
Chart 7b shows that on weekdays, KSI casualties in collisions involving older car drivers as a proportion of all KSI casualties peaks between the hours of 10am to 5pm.
On weekends, KSI casualties in collisions involving older car drivers as a proportion of all KSI casualties peaks between the hours of 10am to 6pm.
Chart 7: KSI (adjusted) casualties from collisions involving at least one older driver by time of day (Chart 7a) and as a percentage of KSI casualties from collisions involving any age driver by time of day (Chart 7b), Great Britain, 2010 to 2019
Note 1: Values are plotted as midpoint between two hours. For example, the point between 10 and 11 reflects collisions that occurred between 10am and 11am.
Chart 8 gives an indication of the risk of injury casualties during 2-hour periods for weekdays and weekends.
Chart 8: Exposure risk (for relative distance travelled) of injury collisions by time of day and day of week, older and all car drivers, England, 2010 to 2019
Note 1: A value of 1 indicates that there are as many casualties as would be expected during a given period based on the total distance travelled during that period. The times which have a greater risk of casualties are not necessarily the same time of the day as when the most casualties occur.
Exposure risk calculation
These estimates are based on the combined National Travel Survey responses from 2010 to 2019. The figures are based on reported trips where the main mode of travel (by distance) was “car or van driver”. For trips starting and ending in a different hour, miles driven are assumed to be evenly spread across the relevant hours. These mileage estimates are limited to personal travel. Some care needs to be taken in interpreting these exposure risk tables due to the relatively low number of trips which are recorded in the NTS for certain hours of the day which could lead to large statistical uncertainty.
Contributory factors
Older car drivers and all car drivers share the same top 2 contributory factors (CFs). However, these are allocated to a larger proportion of older car drivers, with 42.6% of contributory factors attributed to older car drivers relating to “driver failed to look properly”, compared to 35.7% for all drivers. For older drivers, 21.1% relate to “driver failed to judge other person’s path or speed”, whilst for all drivers this figure was 17.8%.
“Driver illness or disability, mental or physical” is the fourth most common contributory factor for older car drivers and eighteenth for all drivers. This corresponds to 13.1% of contributory factors allocated to older car drivers and 2.6% for all drivers.
Specific CFs are allocated disproportionately more to older drivers than all drivers. This includes “dazzling sun” (7.3% of older drivers compared to 3.3% of all drivers), “loss of control” (13.3% older drivers compared to 10.5% for all drivers), and driver nervous, uncertain or panic (3.6% of older drivers compared to 1.4% for all drivers).
Other contributory factors are allocated disproportionately less to older drivers than all drivers. This includes “driver careless, reckless or in a hurry” (10.2% of older drivers compared to 17.0% for all drivers), “exceeding speed limit” (1.4% of all older drivers compared to 7.4% for all drivers), and “driver impaired by alcohol” (1.3% of older drivers to 6.7% for all drivers).
Table 10: Ranking, number, and percentage of top 10 contributory factors attributed to older and to all car drivers, Great Britain, 2020
| Contributory factors | Ranking (older drivers) | Ranking (all drivers) | Number (older drivers) | Number (all drivers) | % (older drivers) | % (all drivers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver failed to look properly | 1 | 1 | 1,640 | 16,623 | 42.6 | 35.7 |
| Driver failed to judge other person`s path or speed | 2 | 2 | 812 | 8,274 | 21.1 | 17.8 |
| Loss of control | 3 | 5 | 514 | 4,887 | 13.3 | 10.5 |
| Driver illness or disability, mental or physical | 4 | 18 | 505 | 1,206 | 13.1 | 2.6 |
| Poor turn or manoeuvre | 5 | 4 | 451 | 4,947 | 11.7 | 10.6 |
| Driver careless, reckless or in a hurry | 6 | 3 | 393 | 7,895 | 10.2 | 17.0 |
| Dazzling sun | 7 | 14 | 283 | 1,556 | 7.3 | 3.3 |
| Driver nervous, uncertain or panic | 8 | 29 | 139 | 673 | 3.6 | 1.4 |
| Slippery road (due to weather) | 9 | 6 | 135 | 3,490 | 3.5 | 7.5 |
| Any other contributory factor | 10 | 24 | 130 | 1,066 | 3.4 | 2.3 |
| Travelling too fast for conditions | 18 | 9 | 91 | 2,816 | 2.4 | 6.1 |
| Exceeding speed limit | 26 | 7 | 55 | 3,434 | 1.4 | 7.4 |
| Driver impaired by alcohol | 29 | 8 | 52 | 3,141 | 1.3 | 6.7 |
| Aggressive driving | 34 | 10 | 25 | 2,265 | 0.6 | 4.9 |
| Any other contributory factor | 1,718 | 25,553 | 44.6 | 54.9 |
About contributory factors
Contributory factors provide an insight into how and why collisions occur. The factors are largely subjective as they reflect the opinion of the reporting officer, therefore they should be interpreted with caution. A maximum of six factors can be recorded for each collision, therefore percentages will exceed 100%. Contributory factors are only recorded for vehicles in collisions where a police officer attended the scene. A total of 66% of accidents reported to the police in 2020 met these criteria.
Older drink drivers
In 2019, there were an estimated 40 KSI casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver over the drink-drive limit in Great Britain. This figure was unchanged since 2018 and was the highest level seen between 2010 and 2019 (Chart 9a).
In 2019, there were an estimated 120 casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver over the drink-drive limit. The number of estimated total casualties from collisions involving at least one older car driver has fluctuated between 2011 and 2019. The lowest levels seen (80 in 2013) was half of the highest levels seen (160 in 2012 and 2018).
Between 2011 and 2019, the percentage of casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver over the drink-drive limit has ranged between 1.0% (2013) and 1.8% (2018) of casualties involving any car driver over the drink-drive limit (Chart 9b). In 2019, this figure was 1.5%.
Chart 9: Number of casualties in collisions involving at least one older car driver over the drink-drive limit (Chart 9a) and as a percentage of casualties involving any car driver over the drink-drive limit (Chart 9b), Great Britain, 2010 to 2019
Table 11: Number of casualties from collisions involving at least one older car drive over the drink-drive limit and for any age driver over the drink-drive limit by severity, Great Britain, 2019
| Collisions involving | Severity | 2019 | % change from 2018 | % change from 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least one older driver | Fatal | 10 | 0.0 | Not applicable |
| At least one older driver | KSI | 40 | 0.0 | 100.0 |
| At least one older driver | All Severities | 120 | -25.0 | 9.1 |
| Any age driver | Fatal | 230 | -4.2 | -4.2 |
| Any age driver | KSI | 1,920 | 7.3 | -1.0 |
| Any age driver | All Severities | 7,800 | -10.1 | -19.5 |
Drink-drive estimates
See Reported road casualties in Great Britain, final estimates involving illegal alcohol levels: 2019 for more information about the published drink-drive data.
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