1,901 people died in road accidents in Great Britain last year - a rise of 51 since 2010, but still one third lower than the average number of fatalities between 2005 and 2009.
The figures, released by the Department for Transport, also show that the number of deaths to pedestrians and car occupants rose by 12% and 6% respectively, while there were drops in the numbers of bus and coach occupants (-22%), motorcyclists and (-10%) pedal cyclists (-4%) killed.
There were 203,950 accidents of any severity in 2011, down by 2% on 2010's total of 208,648 and by 17% on the 2005-2009 average.
Deaths rates in relation to distance travelled
125 motorcyclists died in road accidents for every billion miles travelled - the highest rate for all road users but also a year-on-year fall of 11%.
At 41 deaths per billion miles, the mortality rate for pedestrians was just above that of cyclists (35), with the former a year-on-year rise of 10% and the latter a fall of 6%.
Car occupants had by far the lowest mortality rate at four deaths per billion miles travelled.
Driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs
There were 280 deaths in 2011 where the driver of the offending vehicle was over the legal blood alcohol limit. This was the equivalent of 15% of all road deaths and constituted a 12% increase since 2010.
More than one in twelve drivers who had drunk alcohol in the previous year said they had driven when they think they may have been under the influence of alcohol in that period.
Among illegal drug users, 19% said they had driven when they think they may have been affected by an illicit substance in the prior 12 months. 1% said they had done so "every day or almost every day".
Speed limits
47% of cars exceeded a 30mph speed limit in 2011, while 49% went faster than 70mph on a motorway. The proportions of motorcyclists breaking the same speed limits were similar, at 50% and 49% respectively.
The figures for articulated heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) were considerable higher, with 71% exceeding the single carriageway 40mph limit and more than four in five breaking the 50mph limit on dual carriageways.
There were 661 deaths in 2011 on roads with 60mph speed limits, just ahead of roads with 30mph limits, where there were 612 deaths,
20mph zones accounted for seven deaths in 2011 - fewer than any other speed limit. The Department for Transport does not hold mortality rates per billion miles broken down by speed limit.
Contributory factors
A failure to look properly was the most-reported contributory factor in accidents of any severity and was mentioned in 42% of incidents. A failure to judge the other person's path or speed was second (21%) and careless, reckless or hurried driving third (16%).
In terms of fatal accidents only, a loss of control was the most-reported contributory factor, cited in a third of incidents.
Vehicles involved in pedestrian fatalities
233 pedestrians died following collisions with single cars - more than were killed in incidents involving any other type of vehicle.
65 pedestrians were killed in incidents involving two or more vehicles, while 61 died after a collision with an HGV or light goods vehicle (LGV). Two pedestrians died after collisions with cyclists - fewer than any other vehicle.
Data summary
Download the data
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
NEW! Buy our book
• Facts are Sacred: the power of data (on Kindle)
More open data
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
World government data
• Search the world's government data with our gateway
Development and aid data
• Search the world's global development data with our gateway
Can you do something with this data?
• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk
• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook