2023 saw 306 motorcyclists killed on UK roads, a substantial 12.6% drop compared to the 350 who died the previous year – it was in fact lower than in any pre-pandemic year back to 2014, and significantly lower than in 2017 and 2019, which each saw 470 motorcycle fatalities. Road casualties were significantly fewer across all road user groups in 2020 and ’21, thanks to the effect of Covid restrictions.

The general trend for road user casualties was falling, with car occupant fatalities down by 5% in 2023, and cyclists by 7%, though pedestrian deaths saw a 6% increase. Overall fatalities fell to 1645 the same year, a drop of 3.9%. Taking casualties as a whole (not just deaths), motorcyclists were down by just 1%, car occupants by 3% and cyclists by 6%. In an interesting aside, e-scooter collisions were down as well, while the number fatalities halved to six (based on provisional figures).

Paul Morgan, Government Relations Executive for the BMF said: “The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) is pleased to see the reduction in overall motorcycle fatalities but unfortunately the number of motorcyclists killed or seriously injured on UK roads each year remains unacceptable, with motorcyclists continuing to face disproportionately high levels of risk when riding on the UK’s road network. A motorcyclist is 45 times more likely to be killed in a road accident than a car driver with 80% of accidents caused by another road user’s negligence. The BMF calls on the future Government to place motorcyclist safety front and centre of future UK transport policy and to deliver effective and sustainable investment to repair and maintain the UK’s roads; with motorcycling fully benefiting from investment in “Vision Zero” and “Safe Systems” measures, including improved roads infrastructure design, to ensure that we have a UK road network that is safe for motorcyclists to ride on.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of Sergio Hernandez Trejo – Unsplash