New figures show 'concerning’ rise in deaths of pedestrians on West Midlands roads

Provisional data to be presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee shows a reduction in the overall number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on roads in 2025 compared with 2024.

But the number of fatalities involving pedestrians is showing a sharp rise in the past few years.

Transport bosses said they are to carry out a study to looks at causes and identify what is lacking such as pedestrian crossings.

The overall number of KSIs in 2025 was 1,078 compared with 1,157 recorded in 2024.

However, the number of deaths in 2025 stood at 50, one more than the previous year, although less than the 57 recorded in 2023 and 62 in 2022.

Of those 50 deaths in 2025, 24 were pedestrians, three more than in 2024. This represents a 48 per cent proportion of road deaths being pedestrians, compared with 43 per cent in 2024 and 28.5 per cent in 2022.

The other deaths involved 13 drivers, three passengers, eight motorcyclists and two cyclists.

There were year-on-year reductions in KSIs in Birmingham, Dudley and Sandwell, while Coventry, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton saw increases.

Birmingham still recorded almost half the KSIs across the WMCA area with 500 recorded in 2025, although this is a reduction from 556 the year before.

Dudley suffered 85 KSIs in 2025, compared with 121 in the year before, whilst Sandwell’s number dropped from 156 in 2024 to 124 last year.

Coventry experienced 105 KSIs last year compared with 82 in 2024, Solihull increased from 68 to 70, Walsall went up to 80 from 72 whilst Wolverhampton went from 79 in 2024 to 83 the following year.

KSIs on motorways also increased with 28 recorded in 2025 compared with 23 the year before.

The report said: “It is concerning that the proportion of pedestrian fatalities has increased since 2022 from 28.5 per cent to 48 per cent in 2025.

Comparing year-on-year performance, there were 21 pedestrian fatalities in 2024 (43 per cent) with an increase to 24 in 2025 (48 per cent).

As such, we have initiated a study to drill down into KSI data for pedestrians since 2021.

“The results are still being finalised but we are already identify cluster locations to examine things like shortages in safe crossing facilities and pedestrian desire lines that do not align with existing infrastructure.

“We are also assessing common contributory factors in pedestrian KSIs to establish appropriate interventions.

“We continue to dive deeper into all available data, noting the increasing proportion of pedestrians in road fatality data, that over half of all KSIs occur in Birmingham and that the proportion of fatal collisions across the region involving excessive or inappropriate speed remains the most prevalent contributory factor.”