FOI reference: FOI-2026-3402
You asked
Please provide the number of deaths in England where a contributing factor or cause of death is a pothole (or carriageway condition), over the last 5 years, by year.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for England and Wales; this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration.
Deaths due to external causes such as road traffic incidents are certified by a coroner. The coroner determines the cause of death following an inquest, based on all the available evidence. It is unusual for wider contextual factors such as the condition of the road surface to be recorded on the death certificate of road traffic incidents, therefore we do not hold that information.
The Department for Transport publish statistics relating to road casualties and fatalities for Great Britain. Their road casualties interactive dashboard also allows the user to look at road casualties by various criteria including road surface condition. You can access this information by clicking on the 'filters' section.
For further information on these statistics please contact roadacc.stats@dft.gov.uk.