Road safety

Road Safety

Road traffic collisions (RTCs) are a major cause of preventable death and morbidity, particularly in younger age groups. A large proportion of road traffic collisions are preventable and can be avoided through improved education, awareness, road infrastructure and vehicle safety. All RTCs involving human death or personal injury occurring on a public highway and notified to the police within 30 days of occurrence are recorded using the STATS19 accident reporting form. There is no obligation or legal reason to report all personal injury collisions to the police, although STATS19 data is the best measure of collisions and casualties available. Some collision types are more likely to be underreported than others, for example pedal cyclist collisions with pedestrians. It should be noted that road safety data is subject to revisions by the Department for Transport; therefore, trend data may differ than previously presented.

Data monitored by the Department for Transport show that traffic on major roads in Southampton has experienced an overall increase since 2020. A higher volume of traffic generally increases the likelihood of collisions. In Southampton, the number of reported road injury collisions has remained fairly stable over the last few years; 2021 (436 collisions), 2022 (485 collisions) and 2023 (428 collisions).

The reported road casualty rate per billion vehicle miles uses the total number of miles driven on the road network to adjust for differences in the amount of traffic. In 2023, Southampton experienced 820 casualties per billion vehicle miles travelled on its roads, a decline since 2022 (934). However, the road casualty rate in Southampton remains higher than the England rate (430) and is the second highest among ONS comparators in 2023.

In 2023, 495 people were recorded as being injured in road collisions on Southampton roads, a -10.8% decrease from 2022. There were 2 fatal casualties from collisions that occurred in 2023.

A summary report and slide set produced as part of the 2023/24 Strategic Assessment are available to download below. For more information on crime in Southampton, see the Safe City Strategic Assessment page. The interactive community safety dashboard can be accessed using the link below.