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 estimates of road traffic from the period since 2000 have been revised 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 up until 2019. A higher volume of traffic generally increases the likelihood of collisions. However, reported road injury collisions in Southampton declined notably in 2020 (372 collisions) and 2021 (436 collisions). These declines are linked to the decrease in traffic on the roads during the coronavirus pandemic and government instructions to stay home and limit social contact. In 2022, the number of vehicle miles and therefore collisions (485) have started to increase, following a return to normality. However, these figures still remain below the pre-pandemic baseline.

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 2022, Southampton experienced 900 casualties per billion vehicle miles travelled on its roads, similar to the pre-pandemic baseline (892 in 2019). However, the road casualty rate in Southampton remains higher than the national rate (448) and is the highest among ONS comparators in 2022.

In 2022, 555 people were recorded as being injured in road collisions on Southampton roads, a -5.6% decrease from the pre-pandemic baseline (2019). There were 3 fatal casualties from collisions that occurred in 2022.

A summary report and slide set produced as part of the 2022/23 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.