Motorcyclist deaths up 14%: what the 2025 numbers say, road by road
The DfT's final 2025 figures are out. Rider deaths rose again, and the A38 is now the road with the most motorcyclists killed or seriously injured.
The Department for Transport has published its final road casualty figures for 2025, and they make hard reading for riders. 386 motorcyclists were killed on Britain's roads last year, up 14% on 2024, while motorcycle traffic barely changed. Averaged over 2021 to 2025, seven motorcyclists died and 104 were seriously injured every week on Britain's roads. Seventy per cent of motorcyclist deaths happen on rural roads, which carry 38% of traffic. Both figures come from the DfT's reported road casualties Great Britain: motorcyclist factsheet 2025.
Cyclists fared differently: deaths fell slightly to 79, but serious injuries rose to 4,224.
We've broken the data down road by road. The A38 has overtaken the A6 as the road where the most motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured, with 48 riders killed or seriously hurt along its length in 2025. The A259 on the south coast and the A6 follow. For cyclists the A4 remains the worst road in Britain, with 36 killed or seriously injured.
Long roads carry more traffic and rack up more casualties, so these are counts rather than risk rates, and the police data undercounts injured riders who never report. The full tables, including every road in the top 30 for both motorcyclists and cyclists, are on our data page, along with a regional breakdown for every police force area in Britain.
Our full analysis: The most dangerous roads for motorcyclists and cyclists in Britain and the regional breakdown.
If riding is part of how you look after your head, the numbers above are the other side of the story. Bikers' Mind exists for both.
