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This annual report presents statistics about personal injury road accidents in 2002 and their consequent casualties, which are used to inform public debate and provide both a local and national perspective on road safety matters. In 2002, there were nearly 31 million road vehicles and 222,000 road injury accidents. Between the years 1951 and 2002, 296,093 people have been killed and 16 million injured in road accidents in Britain. Although the numbers of people killed or seriously injured each year has been reducing, it still remains a serious problem. Against this background, the Government announced a new road safety strategy in 2000, with casualty reduction targets for 2010 with special emphasis on child casualties. This volume gives the baseline averages to be used in monitoring these new targets, and an article examines the progress to date. Other articles look at drinking and driving, involvement of ridden horses in road accidents, and a new method of identifying urban and rural roads.