- Road Safety Week takes place 16-22 November across the UK.
- Brake calls on the Government for life-saving technology to be mandated for all new vehicles in the UK.
- UK vehicle safety standards have now fallen behind Europe where Vehicle General Safety Regulations are already in place.
- Experts estimate that adopting the regulations in Britain could prevent more than 1,700 deaths and 15,000 serious injuries, and save up to £7 billion in health costs.
- In 2024 1,671 people died on UK roads and 28,804 were seriously injured.
- Speed was a road safety factor in 59% of all road deaths in 2024.
- More than 3,000 people have signed up to take part in Road Safety Week 2025, together reaching more than 10 million people with important road safety messages.
More than 3,000 schools, organisations, communities and individuals have signed up to take part, together reaching more than 10 million people* with important road safety messages using free resources provided by Brake.
Beginning on Sunday 16 November on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, Road Safety Week highlights the shocking fact that 1,671 people died on UK roads last year, and a further 28,804 suffered serious, life-changing injuries (see Table 1) [1,2]. Speed was a road safety factor in 59% of all road deaths in Britain in 2024 [1].
Brake has also revealed that over the same time period, the charity provided specialist emotional and practical support to more than 2,000 families following a road crash, helping them to cope with the devastating impact of a sudden and traumatic event. Many of the families supported by Brake have been involved in multi-fatality crashes, and around 7% of support cases involve the death of a child.
Safe vehicles save lives
This year, the theme of Road Safety Week is Safe Vehicles Save Lives, raising awareness of how safe vehicles can make roads safer by being roadworthy, preventing crashes and protecting people in the event of a crash. From automated driver assistance systems that help drivers keep within speed limits and brake in an emergency, to essential checks that drivers can do before every journey, Brake is helping people understand how today’s technology can make every journey safer.
A recent study by Brake found that 63% of drivers don’t understand what all the safety features in their car do. In addition, 18% of drivers are uncertain what safety features their car has, and 35% admit to having switched off at least one safety feature [3].
Brake has provided a free action pack of resources to everyone who signs up for Road Safety Week, with information about how to take part. This includes factsheets on safe vehicles and guidance on how to carry out essential safety checks on a car, van or bike. There are also activities for schools to get involved by teaching road safety to children and young people, events and information for employers, as well as social media images and more for everyone to share. Hundreds of people will be taking part in Big Tea Brake events at schools, work and in the community to remember road victims and fundraise for Brake.
Calling on the Government to act
As part of the Road Safety Week campaign, Brake is reiterating its call to the Government for life-saving technology to be mandated for all new vehicles sold in the UK, in line with the Vehicle General Safety Regulations that were introduced in Europe in 2022. Under these regulations, a number of important vehicle safety features became mandatory for all new vehicles sold in the European Union (EU), including advanced emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance and attention warning in case of driver drowsiness. Road safety experts have estimated that adopting the Vehicle General Safety Regulation in Britain could prevent more than 1,700 deaths and 15,000 serious injuries over 16 years, and save up to £7 billion in health costs, if the full package of measures were to be fully implemented [4].
Although Britain played a significant role in the development of the General Safety Regulation when it was still part of the EU, these safety technologies have still not been made mandatory for new vehicles sold in Britain.
Last month, with backing from more than 45 other road safety organisations and individuals, Brake sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP asking her to act with urgency to deliver a new strategic Road Safety Framework and take the essential step of adopting the latest Vehicle General Safety Regulation updates. To date, we have received no response.
Safety features such as intelligent speed assistance and automated emergency braking can play a crucial role in preventing crashes and reducing the risk of death and serious injury on our roads, but only if we keep them switched on!
Ross Moorlock, Chief Executive at Brake
Ross Moorlock, Chief Executive at Brake, said: “Road Safety Week is a fantastic opportunity for us all to come together in our communities, organisations, and simply as people who share the road space, to take action for change to make our roads safer.
“This year, we have put vehicle safety at the very heart of Road Safety Week, because we know that whoever we are, and however we travel, the safety of the vehicles we use is critical to road safety. When we look back at the introduction of seatbelts and airbags, for example, the impact they have had on reducing road deaths and injuries is staggering.
"We know that modern vehicle technology, with automated driver assistance systems, has the potential to have the same transformational impact. There is simply no good reason why any new vehicle sold in the UK should not to be fitted with the latest generation, life-saving safety features as standard. The latest government casualty data, revealing that 59% of road deaths in 2024 involved speed, is a case in point. Safety features such as intelligent speed assistance and automated emergency braking can play a crucial role in preventing crashes and reducing the risk of death and serious injury on our roads, but only if we keep them switched on!
"This Road Safety Week, I call on everyone who drives to find out more about the safety features in your vehicle, and I urge you to use them, to help keep yourself and the people you share the road with as safe as possible. We have the technology to save lives on our roads, we need to use it! Let's make every journey as safe as possible.”
To sign up and take part, go to www.brake.org.uk/road-safety-week.
Road Safety Week 2025 is delivered by Brake and sponsored by Autoglass®, Hastings Direct, Motive and Samsara.
Ed Colley, Head of Brand and Marketing at Autoglass®, commented: “At Autoglass®, we fit safety as standard nationwide – from expert windscreen repair and replacements, to ADAS recalibrations that ensure critical safety systems work as designed. We are proud to once again sponsor Brake’s Road Safety Week, and together champion safe, roadworthy vehicles; increased knowledge and awareness; and the mandate for proven safety technology – because safe vehicles, safely maintained, save lives.”
Toby van der Meer, Hastings Direct Chief Executive Officer, commented: “At Hastings Direct, we recognise that vehicle safety is as important as driving safely, and are proud to partner with Brake and to raise more awareness of this during Road Safety Week. Our telematics technology gives valuable insights into serious and dangerous behaviours, including distracted driving, and encourages drivers to adopt safer driving habits. Through targeted campaigns during peak collision periods, we’re helping drivers stay focused – making roads safer not just for our customers, but for everyone who uses them.”
Nyanya Joof, Regional VP, UK Markets at Motive, commented: “Safety is our north star, and we are committed to zero harm and zero preventable crashes. From small businesses to the world’s largest and most complex organisations, customers rely on Motive’s AI-powered driver safety technology to prevent collisions and protect drivers. Our recent expansion into the UK and partnership with Brake for Road Safety Week reinforces our commitment to creating safer roads worldwide.”
Paz Macdonald, Vice President Marketing at Samsara, commented: "Samsara is a long-serving strategic partner of Brake. We are proud to once again support this year’s Road Safety Week. We've supported Brake for many years, and worked alongside our many UK customers for years to dramatically improve safety, through advanced AI-powered technology that is proven to prevent incidents and save lives. We are dedicated to continuing this work with Brake and our customers to create a future with zero road deaths."
References
* From data collected at registration
- Department for Transport (2025) Reported road casualties Great Britain, annual report: 2024 and supporting data sets.
- Police Service of Northern Ireland (2025) Police Recorded Injury Road Traffic Collisions and Casualties Northern Ireland: 2024 Key Statistics Report
- Brake (2025) Vehicle safety technology report
- PACTS (2022) Vaccine for Vehicles: Preventing death and injury on UK roads
Data tables
| Table 1: Number of people killed or injured on roads in Britain, from 2020 to 2024. Data taken from reference 1. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Table 2: Number of people killed or injured on roads in Northern Ireland, from 2020 to 2024. Data taken from reference 2. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Table 3: Number of people killed and seriously injured on UK roads, 2023 and 2024, by region. Data taken from references 1 and 2. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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About Autoglass®
Autoglass® is a market-leading vehicle glass repair, replacement, and recalibration specialist. Part of Belron®, Autoglass® combines a national footprint of around 1,000 technicians and 100 service locations supported by a resilient supply chain and a ‘repair-first’ ethos. With Belron Technical R&D, we pioneered nationwide ADAS recalibration to ensure modern safety systems function as designed. A preferred partner to many leading insurers, Autoglass® delivered a world-class Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 80.2 in 2024. Responsible by design, the company recycles 100% of its glass waste and is reducing carbon across its supply chain towards net-zero by 2050, while supporting local and global communities through initiatives such as the Spirit of Belron Challenge and Afrika Tikkun. The brand is known for its ‘Autoglass® Repair, Autoglass® Replace’ jingle and commitment to ‘Fits Safety as Standard.’
About Hastings Direct
Hastings Direct is proud to be one of the country’s largest and fastest growing providers of car, home, van and motorbike insurance. They’re passionate about helping customers save money and stay safe, while making insurance simple and straightforward. Hastings Direct believes supporting customers when something goes wrong is essential and helped over 278,000 customers with their claims last year.
Using the latest technology to make insurance simple, Hastings Direct’s app helps customers manage their policies anytime, anywhere. They’re also committed to using this technology to help improve driving habits, detect fraud and protect honest customers.
YouDrive, Hastings Direct’s market-leading telematics product, helps customers save even more money on their car insurance while also monitoring how safely they are driving, playing their part to make the UK roads safer for everyone.
About Motive
Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time, safety, operations, and finance teams can manage their workers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet-related spend in a single system. Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers from small businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises such as Halliburton, KONE, Komatsu, NBC Universal, and Maersk across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, waste services, and the public sector.
About Samsara
Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations® Platform, which is an open platform that connects the people, devices, and systems of some of the world’s most complex operations, allowing them to develop actionable insights and improve their operations. With tens of thousands of customers across North America and Europe, Samsara is a proud technology partner to the people who keep our global economy running, including the world’s leading organisations across industries in transportation, construction, wholesale and retail trade, field services, logistics, manufacturing, utilities and energy, government, healthcare and education, food and beverage, and others. The company's mission is to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power the global economy. Samsara is a registered trademark of Samsara Inc. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.