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Written question asked by Richard Holden (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 September 2026. It was answered by Justin Madders (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Transport.


Roads: Death

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) fatalities occurred in road collisions where a driver or rider was impaired by illegal drug use and (b) fatalities occurred in collisions involving a driver or rider over the legal drink-driving limit, in each of the last ten years for which data are available.

Answer

The number of fatalities in personal injury road collisions, in Great Britain as reported by the police using the STATS19 system between 2016 and 2025 (the latest year for which data is available) where a driver or rider was assigned “affected by drugs” is given in the table below:

Year

Total

2016

90

2017

105

2018

85

2019

91

2020

92

2021

79

2022

97

2023

145

2024

117

2025

157

Within STATS19, the number of collisions where drivers were affected by drugs are based on road safety factor data. This includes illegal and legal drugs. It is not possible to separate them in the road safety factor data.

Since 2023, road safety factors (RSFs) have started to replace the previous system of contributory factors (CFs). As of 2025, not all police forces are recording RSFs, but instead using the older CF specification.

The change of specification has resulted in differences in the levels of reporting for some factors and as such comparisons to data from recent years should be made with caution.

The estimated number of collisions and fatalities in personal injury drink-drive collisions for Great Britain between 2015 and 2024 (the latest figures available) are given in the table below.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10:

Year

Fatalities

2015

200

2016

230

2017

250

2018

240

2019

230

2020

220

2021

260

2022

300

2023

260

2024

220

Note figures in the table are rounded to the nearest 10

Within STATS19, the number of collisions where drivers were over the legal alcohol limit are based on the results of breath tests conducted by the police at the scene of personal injury road collisions and combined with data from coroners and procurators’ fiscal on blood alcohol levels of those killed in collisions.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
26161
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Alcoholic drinks Death Drugs Driving under influence Roads
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk