Data gathering on disability and driving statistics: summary report

Document summary

An increasing number of disabled people enjoy the freedom and independence that driving provides. The number of disabled drivers is expected to increase. There are in excess of 9 million disabled people who are of driving age but there are no clear indications of what proportion drive, which vehicles and adaptations they use, and their driving and collision exposure. To provide answers to these questions, this project collected robust data from existing sources (e.g. DVLA) and also generated new sources of data by surveying disabled drivers. Collectively, the data indicated that there were at least 1.9 million disabled drivers in Great Britain – a rate of 33 per 1,000 population. Disabled drivers tended to be older and male. Within Great Britain, Wales had the highest density of disabled drivers. The population of disabled drivers is expected to grow in future years, aided by an increase in the older population. Growth could also be assisted by advances in vehicle adaptations. The data indicated that there may already be in excess of 400,000 adapted vehicles in Great Britain. Disabled drivers were not found to have a collision involvement that differed from the total population. Future research should prioritise vehicle adaptation safety and the collation of more comprehensive data on the population of disabled drivers.