How Many Pedestrians Are Killed in Collisions With Vans?
Quick answer: Between 2021 and 2025, 175 pedestrians were killed in Great Britain in collisions involving a single light goods vehicle, according to the Department for Transport (DfT) pedestrian factsheet 2025. A further 2,004 pedestrians were seriously injured in the same kind of collision. Of pedestrian casualties in collisions involving one light goods vehicle, 2.6% were fatal, against 1.5% for one car.
What the DfT table counts
The figures come from Table 3 of the DfT pedestrian factsheet 2025, which groups five years of police-reported data, 2021 to 2025, from the STATS19 system. The table covers single-vehicle collisions only, classified by the other vehicle involved. It counts reported casualties, not risk per mile driven or per vehicle on the road, and carries no exposure denominator.
Over the five years, the table records 1,924 pedestrian fatalities in total:
- 1 car: 1,048 killed, 19,974 seriously injured, 67,908 in total, 1.5% fatal
- 1 light goods vehicle: 175 killed, 2,004 seriously injured, 6,648 in total, 2.6% fatal
- 1 heavy goods vehicle: 169 killed, 401 seriously injured, 1,107 in total, 15.3% fatal
- 1 bus or coach: 100 killed, 1,033 seriously injured, 3,120 in total, 3.2% fatal
- 2 vehicles involved: 209 killed, 4.1% fatal
- 3 or more vehicles involved: 117 killed, 10.1% fatal
The factsheet adds that 54% of pedestrian fatalities in 2021 to 2025 were in collisions involving a single car.
Vans, cars and lorries side by side
Two comparisons deserve care. First, pedestrian deaths in collisions involving one light goods vehicle (175) were close to those involving one heavy goods vehicle (169) over the same five years, even though the fatal share was very different: 2.6% against 15.3%. When a pedestrian casualty involved a heavy goods vehicle, it was far more likely to be fatal. The table alone does not explain why, and it does not support ranking vehicle types by danger per mile.
Second, a pedestrian casualty in a collision involving one light goods vehicle was more likely to be fatal than one involving one car (2.6% against 1.5%). Cars still account for far more pedestrian deaths in total (1,048), because car collisions are far more numerous. Counts and shares answer different questions, and this article keeps them separate.
When and where pedestrians die
In 2025, 364 pedestrians were killed in Great Britain, while 5,958 were seriously injured and 13,656 slightly injured. Fatalities fell by 11% between 2024 and 2025, from 409 to 364, and were down 46% from 671 in 2004. The pedestrian fatality rate per billion miles walked fell by 55% between 2004 and 2025.
Averaged over 2021 to 2025:
- An average of 7 pedestrians died and 109 were seriously injured per week in reported road collisions.
- The weekday peak for pedestrian killed or seriously injured casualties was 3pm to 6pm, with a smaller morning peak around 8am. At weekends the peak came later, in the early evening.
- 61% of pedestrian fatalities did not occur at or within 20 metres of a junction, against 49% of seriously injured casualties.
- 65% of pedestrian fatalities occurred on urban roads, against 87% of all casualties, while 30% of fatalities occurred on rural roads, against 12% of all casualties.
The factsheet also reports road safety factors for fatal or serious collisions in 2024 to 2025. The most common factor allocated to vehicles was ineffective observation by the driver or rider, in 53% of cases, and the most common factor allocated to pedestrians was being careless or in a hurry, in 56% of cases. These factors reflect the reporting officer's opinion soon after the collision and should be read with caution, as the factsheet warns.
The United States test results
Newer results from the United States show why van safety equipment matters. On 8 October 2026, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) published its first front crash prevention ratings for cargo vans and Class 3 pickup trucks, vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 to 14,000 pounds.
The IIHS release states: "In 2024, 6,215 people were killed in crashes involving heavy- or medium-duty vehicles or light vans, accounting for 16% of all roadway fatalities in the U.S." That total covers a wider group than delivery vans alone and must not be added to the British figures.
The best results were cargo vans. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 earned a good rating for vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, and the Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and Rivian RCV-Delivery 500 earned good ratings for pedestrian crash avoidance. The Chevrolet Express 2500 and GMC Savana 2500 earned poor ratings in both tests because they lack automatic emergency braking, offering only an optional forward collision warning system.
What the numbers point to
In Britain, the collisions that kill pedestrians cluster in the late afternoon, away from junctions, and observation failure is the factor most often recorded for vehicles. In the United States, the first IIHS tests found that the vans and pickups doing worst were the ones without automatic emergency braking, while other models showed that a good rating was achievable. For anyone choosing a van for a fleet or a business, the IIHS ratings and the presence of standard automatic emergency braking are now checkable facts.
How these numbers were counted
The British figures are police-reported casualties from STATS19, published in the DfT pedestrian factsheet 2025, grouped over 2021 to 2025. Serious and slight injuries have been adjusted for changes in severity reporting systems, and a considerable share of non-fatal casualties are known to go unreported. The previous edition, covering 2020 to 2024, recorded 165 light-goods-vehicle pedestrian fatalities with the same 2.6% fatal share; the overlapping windows must not be read as a rise. The American figures are IIHS test ratings on its good-to-poor scale, plus a 2024 fatality total for crashes involving heavy- or medium-duty vehicles or light vans. The latest year in each source can be revised.
For related reporting, see Great Britain road casualty data, today's accident reports and stopping distances.
In this story
- United Kingdom: live accidents and road deaths
- Driving laws in United Kingdom
- Road accidents reported today
More from United Kingdom
- Are Road Casualties Concentrated in Poorer Areas? ·
- Did the Wales 20mph Limit Cut Crashes by a Third? ·
- What Did Police Find in 5 Years of Young-Driver Crashes? ·
- How Many Older Drivers Die on UK Roads Each Year? 2025 Data ·
- How Many People Die in Crashes Involving Lorries in Britain Each Year? ·
- How Many People Die in E-Scooter Crashes in Britain Each Year? ·
More from the tracker
Watch accidents unfold in real time on the live world map, check the 2026 statistics, or browse all articles.