Police recorded road collisions: 2024 (provisional)
Data on severity of injury and type of road user for 2024.
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Introduction
The provisional data presented here reflect the personal injury road collisions reported by police in Wales from October to December (Q4) 2024 and annual data for 2024. While these data are the most detailed and reliable source of information on road collisions and casualties, they do not include road collisions:
- that were not reported to the police
- that occurred on private land i.e. car parks or fields
- where no personal injury was recorded
- where the collision was later confirmed by a medical professional or coroner to be a suicide or medical episode
Given the increased interest in collisions data since the roll out of the 20mph default speed limit on 17 September 2023, we published a Chief Statistician’s update on ‘understanding road collisions and casualty statistics’ on 24 May 2024 (Digital and Data blog).
All the underlying road accidents data is published on StatsWales, and our road collisions dashboard. This includes additional detail on collisions and casualties by geographical area, speed limit, severity and vehicle type
Data for 2024 Q4 are provisional and subject to potential revision in the future. Detailed quality information is published in the accompanying quality report.
Collisions data is seasonal and impacted by factors such as traffic volume and weather. It is advisable and meaningful to compare quarterly data with the same quarter in previous years rather than with the previous quarter. However, longer term trends give a better indication of patterns and changes in police recorded road collisions.
Annual police recorded road collisions
In previous years, quarter 4 collisions data has been published as part of a detailed annual collisions publication. However, delays with the submission of data mean that approximately 18 collisions from one police force are currently missing from our data set. We are therefore publishing quarter 4 and annual 2024 data as provisional. Once we have received complete data, we will publish a more detailed statistical bulletin on collisions and casualties in 2024.
Therefore, please note the figures below are provisional and are likely to be revised.
Main results (provisional)
In 2024, police in Wales reported a total of 2,913 road collisions and this was the lowest annual figure recorded apart from 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic).
- 75 (2%) were fatal
- 871 (30%) were serious
- 1,967 (68%) were slight
Road collisions in 2024 decreased by 10.7% from 2023, the third largest annual decrease on record.
During 2024, police reported road collisions resulted in 3,993 casualties, the lowest figure recorded apart from 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic).
- 81 (2%) were fatal
- 1,005 (25%) were serious
- 2,907 (73%) were slight.
The total number of road casualties decreased by 8.2% between 2023 and 2024, with fatalities decreasing by 17.3% and seriously injured casualties decreasing by 2.3%.
In 2024, there were 1,441 road collisions on 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined), the lowest figure since records began. This was a decrease of 19% from 2023, the largest annual fall apart from 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic).
These collisions on 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined), resulted in 1,751 casualties, the lowest figure recorded since records began. This was a 20% decrease from the previous year, the largest annual fall apart from 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Figure 1: Recorded personal injury road collisions, 1994 to 2024
Description of Figure 1: The line chart shows a time series of police reported road collisions for the whole of Wales from 1994 to 2024. It shows the number of police recorded road collisions has steadily declined since 1994.
Source: Road collision statistics, Welsh Government
Collisions: 2024 Q4
The number of quarterly road collisions in Wales has generally been declining steadily over the last decade and quarterly figures can be volatile. Care should be taken when interpreting this data over a short time period.
In 2024 Q4, there were 698 police reported road collisions in Wales. Of these collisions:
- 15 (2%) were fatal
- 214 (31%) were serious
- 469 (67%) were slight
The number of collisions is 5% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (738) and is the lowest quarter 4 figure since records began.
The number of collisions in the latest quarter is 21% lower than the same quarter in 2022 (the last quarter 4 period before the change in default speed limit).
Figure 2: Quarterly police-reported road collisions in Wales, 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4
Description of Figure 2: The line chart shows a time series for the number of police-reported road collisions in Wales each quarter from 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4. The number of quarterly road collisions has declined steadily over the last decade.
Source: Road collision statistics, Welsh Government
20 and 30mph road speed limit
Most roads that were 30mph became 20mph on 17 September 2023. Therefore, significantly more roads are now 20mph roads (an increase from approximately 870km to 13,000km), and significantly fewer are 30mph (a decrease from approximately 13,100km to 980km).
This section considers collisions that occurred on all 20mph and 30mph roads (combined) to allow direct comparisons for the same set of roads before and after the change in default speed limit on restricted roads.
Road collisions data after the change to the 20mph default speed limit is currently limited to a relatively short period of time (17 September 2023 to 31 December 2024) and can be volatile over the short term. Care should be taken when interpreting this data over a short time period, we will continue to monitor this over time as more data becomes available. Our Chief Statistician’s update on understanding road collision and casualty statistics (Digital and Data blog) includes more information.
In 2024 Q4, there were 357 road collisions on 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined). Of these, 4 were fatal, 89 were serious and 264 slight collisions.
The number of collisions on 20 and 30mph roads (combined) is 6% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (380) and is the lowest quarter 4 figure in Wales since records began.
It is also 32% lower than the same quarter in 2022 (the last quarter 4 period before the change in default speed limit)
This number has generally been declining over the last decade.
Figure 3: Quarterly police-reported road collisions on roads with a 20 or 30mph speed limit (combined) in Wales, 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4
Description of Figure 3: The line chart shows a time series for police-reported road collisions on roads with a 20 or 30mph speed limit (combined) in Wales each quarter from 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4. The number of quarterly road collisions on 20mph or 30mph has declined steadily over the last decade.
Source: Road collision statistics, Welsh Government
Casualties: 2024 Q4
Individual collisions can result in multiple casualties with different levels of injury severity.
In 2024 Q4 there were 947 road casualties reported in Wales. Of these casualties:
- 18 (2%) were killed
- 246 (26%) people were seriously injured
- 683 (72%) had slight injuries
The number of casualties is 4% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (983) and the lowest quarter 4 figure in Wales outside the COVID-19 period.
It is also 21% lower than the same quarter in 2022 (the last fourth quarter before the change in default speed limit).
This number has generally been declining over the last decade.
Figure 4: Quarterly road casualties in Wales, 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4
Description of Figure 4: The line chart shows a time series for the number of casualties in police-reported road collisions in Wales each quarter from 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4. The number of quarterly casualties has declined steadily over the last decade.
Source: Road collision statistics, Welsh Government
20 and 30mph road speed limit
In 2024 Q4, there were 443 road casualties from road collisions on 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined). Among these, 4 were killed, 97 were seriously injured and 342 were slight injuries.
The number of casualties on 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined) is 5% lower than in the same quarter in 2023 (464).
The number of casualties on roads with 20 and 30mph road speed limits (combined) in 2024 Q4 was the lowest quarter 4 figures in Wales since records began.
It is also 35% lower than the same quarter in 2022 (the last quarter four period before the change in default speed limit).
This number has generally been declining over the last decade.
Figure 5: Quarterly casualties reported on roads with a 20 or 30mph speed limit in Wales, 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4
Description of Figure 5: The line chart shows a time series quarterly number of casualties in police-reported road collisions on roads with a 20 and 30mph speed limit (combined) in Wales each quarter from 2010 Q1 to 2024 Q4. The numbers have declined steadily over the last decade.
Source: Road collision statistics, Welsh Government
Notes
Some data quality issues have been identified relating to the recorded speed limit of the road where collisions occurred. This is explained in more detail at the beginning of the Police recorded road collisions: 2023 statistical bulletin and in the data quality report.
