Driving Statistics and Facts 2025
From daily commutes to long road trips, driving statistics tell a lot about habits behind the wheel.
Understanding the figures can provide insights into the patterns and behaviors of how people travel on the road.
Here are the latest driving statistics, giving you a clear picture of trends in road safety, vehicle usage, and how people navigate the cities, regions, and beyond.
Top Driving Statistics
- According to 2024 data, January, June, July, and August had the highest estimated collision rate, while June and July had the highest level of casualties
- 2024 Report on Motoring showed that 55% of drivers under 25 admitted to making or receiving voice calls while driving
- In 2023, 30% of young drivers admitted to video calling while driving
- Road collision data showed that 70% of collisions involved male drivers, while 30% of collisions involved women
- More than two in three (69.5%) drivers in the UK reported experiencing road rage, with over one in 10 (12%) admitting it’s a weekly occurrence for them
- Approximately 1.19 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes
- Men are more likely to experience a casualty from driving, with 62% of all car-related injuries being male
- Most alcohol-related accidents occur at night between 10 PM and 4 AM
- 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths in 2022
- In the United States, about 10,000 deaths annually are caused by drunk driving
Drunk Driving Statistics
Drunk driving remains one of the leading causes of road accidents, and the UK is no exception.
In July 2024, the UK Government released its updated data on drunk driving, identifying the months when road collisions and casualties were most frequent.
Reacting to the data, the RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said, “While the number of people killed by drink-drivers is still thankfully far lower now compared to the final decades of the 20th century, the fact we’re back to a similar rate of fatalities caused by people drinking and driving as we were in the late 1980s is abhorrent.”
According to the data, January, June, July, and August had the highest estimated collision rate, while June and July had the highest level of casualties.
Total collision 4620, casualties 6800.
The data excludes pedal cyclists and horse riders.
- January had 410 collisions, 580, casualties
- February had 340 collisions, 490, casualties
- March had 350 collisions, 490, casualties
- April had 360 collisions, 550, casualties
- May had 390 collisions, 610, casualties
- June had 430 collisions, 630, casualties
- July had 410 collisions, 630, casualties
- August had 410 collisions, 590, casualties
- September had 390 collisions, 600, casualties
- October had 370 collisions, 530, casualties
- November had 380 collisions, 540, casualties
- December had 380 collisions, 550, casualties
Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten. This means annual totals may not exactly match the sum of monthly figures due to rounding.
Distracted Driving Statistics
Distracted driving is another major contributor to accidents which is often caused by the widespread use of mobile phones and in-car technology.
- According to the 2024 Report on Motoring, 55% of drivers under 25 admitted to making or receiving voice calls while driving
- It represents a 6% increase from 2023 and a 3% rise since 2016 when the data was first recorded
- 43% of younger drivers reported listening to voice notes while driving without hands-free, and 40% admitted to recording such messages
- 15,300 drivers were prosecuted for using a handheld mobile phone in the UK in 2023
- More than one in five drivers (23%) in the UK cited illegal phone use as their biggest motoring concern, based on RAC survey data of 2,937 drivers in 2023
- In 2023, 30% of young drivers admitted to video calling while driving
- The Ministry of Justice data showed that there were 6,200 prosecutions for ‘using or causing others to use a handheld mobile phone whilst driving’ in 2021
- In 2020, 18% of young drivers admitted to video calling while driving
Road Accident Statistics Worldwide
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Alt Tag: Road Accident Statistics Worldwide
Road accidents remain a leading cause of death and injury globally. Here are some staggering statistics surrounding road traffic injuries worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO):
- Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years
- 92% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries
- Approximately 1.19 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes
- Road traffic crashes cost most countries 3% of their gross domestic product
- More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users, including cyclists motorcyclists, and pedestrians
- The United Nations General Assembly aimed to reduce the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030
Car Accident Statistics by Age and Gender
Age and gender are two of the most significant factors in determining accident risk.
- Road collision data showed that 70% of collisions involved male drivers, while 30% of collisions involved women
- Looking at the ages of drivers who are responsible for drink-driving collisions, six-in-10 (64%) were aged between 25 and 59
- This was followed by 24% for ages 16 to 24 and 8% for those aged over 60
- Men are more likely to experience a casualty from driving, with 62% of all car-related injuries being male
- There were 143,326 injuries caused by car accidents in the UK, in 2022 according to the Department for Transport Annual Report
- According to 2013 to 2022 data, in the UK, a person is killed or seriously injured by a car crash every 16 minutes
- 78% of all car fatalities are male, according to the Department For Transport 2021 report
Drunk Driving Statistics by Year
Here are the drunk driving figures in the UK:
- 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths in 2022
- Approximately 6,800 people were killed or injured when at least one driver was over the drink-drive limit in 2022, representing an increase of 1% from 6,740 in 2021 (source: Hire2You)
- The estimate of fatalities for 2022 is the highest level since 2009 and an increase compared to the previous year
- Approximately 20% of all road deaths involve alcohol consumption in the UK
Aggressive Driving Statistics
Aggressive driving involves behaviors like speeding, road rage, tailgating, and erratic lane changing.
- More than two in three (69.5%) drivers in the UK reported experiencing road rage, with over one in 10 (12%) admitting it’s a weekly occurrence for them
- According to survey, the most common cause of road rage is when other drivers do not indicate, with 26.9% of those surveyed saying this is their most frequent frustration
- Tailgating comes in close second (26.6%), followed by being cut off (21.6%), slow driving (17.3%) and merging at the last minute (15.6%)
- Among young drivers (aged 17 to 24), slow driving is the number one source of anger on the road (27.6%)
- Older motorists, on the other hand, are more likely to cite tailgating as the most infuriating scenario, with over a third (34.5%) of drivers aged 55+ and 30.1% of those aged 45 to 54 agreeing on this
- Over three-quarters (75.9%) of drivers in London admit to experiencing road rage, making the UK’s capital, the country’s number one road rage hotspot
- Nottingham ranks as the city with the second-highest road rage (75.5%), followed by Sheffield (73.3%), Cardiff (73.1%) and Plymouth (72.2%)
- Northern cities Newcastle (52.8%) and Liverpool (59.2%) have the lowest rates of road rage in the country, of the cities analysed
Drunk Driving Deaths per Year Worldwide
Globally, drunk driving continues to claim countless lives each year.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 30% of all road traffic deaths worldwide are caused by alcohol-impaired driving.
- Drink-driving collisions represent 17% of all deaths on the roads in the UK.
- 1.3 million deaths occur worldwide each year due to road traffic accidents and around 30-50% of those deaths are related to alcohol use
- In the United States, about 10,000 deaths annually are caused by drunk driving
- In the European Union, alcohol-related crashes are responsible for around 25% of road fatalities
- Global alcohol consumption has been linked to nearly 500,000 deaths from road traffic accidents annually
- In India, alcohol-related traffic accidents account for 5-10% of total fatalities
- BAC levels of 0.08 g/dL are considered legally drunk in most countries, but some places like Sweden enforce stricter limits of 0.02 g/dL.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 100 countries have national laws to combat drunk driving.
- The risk of a fatal crash increases by up to 13 times for drivers with a BAC of 0.08% compared to sober drivers.
- Canada reports around 1,000 deaths each year due to alcohol-related crashes.
- Drinking and driving killed 37 people a day in the U.S., about one person every 39 minutes according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Key Takeaways
While road safety in the UK has seen progress in certain areas, the statistics showed that drunk driving continues to pose significant risks and everyone has a role to play in reducing accidents.
Whether it’s by staying sober behind the wheel, resisting distractions, or driving responsibly, it is a collective responsibility to make the roads safer.
Through continued education, stricter enforcement of laws, and better infrastructure, the roads could become safer for all.
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