New road fatality and injury figures showing levels have remained broadly unchanged do not reflect the significantly more serious legal consequences for hauliers, a transport lawyer warned.
Provisional road casualty statistics showed that there were 1,556 fatalities last year, a reduction of 3% compared to 2024.
However, the number of people killed or seriously injured increased by 4% to 29,911, meaning overall KSI levels remained flat, according to law firm LMP Legal.
Charlotte Le Maire, LMP founder and partner, said many operators were focusing on reducing collisions without fully appreciating how rapidly the legal environment had changed.
She said: “These figures show that the risk of being involved in a serious collision has not disappeared.
“The difference today is that the legal consequences following an incident are significantly greater than they were even a year ago.”
In 2025, sentencing guidelines for careless driving offences were updated, making driving for commercial purposes and operating a goods vehicle explicit aggravating factors.
It meant HGV drivers are now judged against a higher standard than the public.
“The fact someone is driving for work is specifically recognised by the courts as a factor which can increase sentence severity,” she said.
“Professional drivers can therefore face harsher outcomes simply because they are operating a commercial vehicle as part of their employment.”
LMP Legal also pointed out that crash investigators now have access to “unprecedented levels” of technology such as telematics data, CCTV, dashcam footage and digital records, which meant scrutiny could extend beyond the driver to his employer’s systems, training, supervision and compliance processes.
Le Maire said: “The availability of data means investigators can build a detailed picture of what was happening before a collision and whether warning signs were being missed.”
In addition, initial roadside conversations while a driver is still making sense of what has happened can result in self-incrimination alongside greater scrutiny of the employer; LMP Legal added that serious incidences were increasingly triggering ‘dual-track’ investigations, involving criminal and regulatory scrutiny.
The law firm recommended fleet operators implemented policies that included access to 24/7 legal support: “Immediate legal support isn’t about avoiding accountability,” Le Maire added.
“It’s about ensuring that information is provided accurately, evidence is preserved and both the driver and operator are protected from unnecessary escalation.”
The department for transport figures also revealed that there were 127,870 casualties of all severities in 2025, little change compared to 2024.
The provisional figures were based on data supplied by police forces as of 11 May 2026.
