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 2021, male fatalities fell by 5 to 110). Female fatalities rose by 3 to 34). Fourteen per cent (693) of all casualties were aged 16–22, a fall of 5% on 2020, of which 399 were male and 294 were female.

Figure 7: Number of casualties by gender and age, 2021.

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 486 child casualties reported in 2021, representing 10% of all casualties (486 out of 5,023) and a decrease of 7 (or 1%) from 2020. Of these, 5 died, one fewer than in 2020. One of the children killed in 2021 was a pedestrian, two were car passengers, one was a pedal cyclist 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 241 child pedestrian casualties recorded in 2021. They accounted for 32% of all pedestrian casualties of all ages (241 out of 758). Of the child pedestrian casualties, 94 were seriously injured (1 died). The number killed was two fewer than in 2020.

In 2021, there were 167 child casualties in cars, 6% of all car user casualties (167 out of 2,862). Of the child casualties in cars, 24 were seriously injured (two died).

In 2021, there were 58 child pedal cycle casualties (12% of the total of 500 pedal cycle casualties of all ages) including 16 who were seriously injured, there was one child pedal cyclist killed in 2021, the same as 2020.

Figure 8: Number of child casualties, 2004 – 2021.

< Previous | Contents | Next >