Is YOUR safety at risk? Britain’s most vulnerable road users named as a surge in deaths is revealed
Government's latest traffic casualty figures showed a significant increase in the number of fatal accidents involving motorcyclists and older road users
BRITAIN'S most vulnerable road users have been named, but it's bad news for motorcyclists and older motorists.
New figures revealed road deaths for some of the most at-risk groups increased by as much as nine per cent in a year.
Outlined in the Department for Transport's , fatalities for motorcyclists showed the largest increase of any road user group.
In 2017, motorcyclists accounted for 19 per cent of all road deaths.
And some 349 motorbike riders were killed on Britain's roads - up nine per cent on 2016.
In total, there were 18,042 motorcycle casualties last year, with just under half occurring in London and the South East.
One in three motorcyclists killed were aged 17-24, with a whopping 91 per cent of all casualties being male.
But despite the significant rise, motorbike deaths were actually down one per cent from the average rate between 2010-2014.
The number of older people killed on the road also rose, up five per cent from 2016 to make up 31 per cent of all road deaths.
In all, there were 559 fatalities and 22,375 casualties involving road users aged 60 and over last year.
This increase was largely due to a rise in the number of older motorcyclist and pedestrian deaths.
latest motors news
There was also a large decrease in the number of children and young people killed on the road.
Fatalities involving children aged 15 or younger decreased by 30 per cent, down to 48 compared with 69 in 2016.
And the number of young adults aged 17-24 involved in road deaths also showed a decline, following a year-on-year trend to reduce by seven per cent.