Casualties by gender and age

Figure 7 shows the number of reported casualties by gender and age. This figure does not account for differences between age groups in the level of exposure to risk; for example, we do not control for the number of people in each group with driving licences or for the overall number of people in each age group.

In 2022, male fatalities rose by 21 to 128. Female fatalities rose by 12 to 46. Fourteen per cent (767) of all casualties were aged 16–22, an increase of 9% on 2021, of which 495 were male and 271 were female.

Child casualties

For the purposes of these statistics, casualties under the age of 16 are classified as child casualties. Figure 8 shows that there were 585 child casualties reported in 2022, representing 10% of all casualties (585 out of 5,587) and an increase of 90 (or 18%) from 2021. Of these, 3 died, two fewer than in 2021. One of the children killed in 2022 was a pedestrian, one a car passenger and one was using another mode of transport. The numbers of fatalities are small, so care should be taken when drawing conclusions from year-on-year changes and trends should be looked at over the longer term.

There were 294 child pedestrian casualties recorded in 2022. They accounted for 33% of all pedestrian casualties of all ages (294 out of 904). Of the child pedestrian casualties, 115 were seriously injured (1 died). The number killed was the same as 2021.

In 2022, there were 193 child casualties in cars, 6% of all car user casualties (193 out of 3,179). Of the child casualties in cars, 26 were seriously injured (one died).

In 2022, there were 44 child pedal cycle casualties (9% of the total of 478 pedal cycle casualties of all ages) including 12 who were seriously injured, there were no child pedal cyclists killed in 2022, and one less than in 2021.