Traffic accidents

JavaScript is not enabled

Without JavaScript enabled forms will not work.

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FIN/25/002958/U

Version Date: 20/03/2025

The Road Safety Department has provided the following information.

These figures show all injury collisions reported to the Police within 30 days of the occurrence between Jan-Nov 2024 (as this is what we have validated at this time). It does not include medical episodes, off-road collisions or confirmed suicides.

Contributory Factors are only present for collisions where an officer attended the scene. Up to 6 factors can be selected and assigned to a vehicle, casualty or uninjured pedestrian involved in the collision. They are split by very likely or possible.

Please provide the total number of recorded road traffic accidents in the UK (Scotland, England, Wales, North Ireland) from January 2024 to February 2025. Additionally, identify which month had the highest number of incidents.

Table 1.1
	Dorset collision data by severity
	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
January	3	23	97	123
February	2	13	73	88
March	1	28	87	116
April	1	18	89	108
May	1	21	105	127
June	3	28	119	150
July	0	29	96	125
August	1	17	86	104
September	0	22	96	118
October	1	14	92	107
November	2	24	93	119
Total	15	237	1033	1285

The highest number of incidents have been coloured in green.

Break down these accidents by severity, categorising them into fatal, serious, and slight injuries.

See Table 1.1

Provide a dataset detailing the number of road traffic accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, and motorcyclists during this period.

Table 1.2
Dorset collisions data by involved vehicle January to November 2024
	Pedestrian			Pedal Cycle			Mobility scooter			Electric motorcycle			Motorcycle 50cc and under
	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight
January	1	7	17	0	4	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
February	0	6	15	0	2	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
March	0	8	16	0	6	10	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
April	0	0	17	0	2	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
May	1	4	17	0	5	17	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
June	1	6	14	0	4	27	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
July	0	5	14	0	5	16	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
August	0	4	6	0	5	13	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
September	0	8	9	0	5	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
October	0	3	7	0	2	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
November	1	8	16	0	4	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3
Total	4	59	148	0	44	159	0	3	2	0	1	1	1	5	20


Table 1.2
Dorset collisions data by involved vehicle January to November 2024
	Motorcycle 50cc and up to 125cc			Motorcycle over 125 cc and up to 500cc			Motorcycle over 500cc			Motorcycle unknown cc			Electric scooter
	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Fatal	Serious	Slight
January	0	6	9	0	0	5	0	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
February	0	0	6	0	1	2	1	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
March	0	3	10	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
April	0	6	15	0	1	1	1	4	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
May	0	1	7	0	1	3	0	5	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
June	0	4	14	0	1	7	1	5	6	0	0	1	0	1	2
July	0	5	11	0	1	4	0	5	5	0	0	1	0	0	1
August	0	1	4	0	3	3	1	2	7	0	0	0	0	0	2
September	0	1	7	0	4	3	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
October	0	2	13	0	1	5	1	3	4	0	0	1	0	1	0
November	0	4	9	0	0	3	0	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	0
Total	0	33	105	0	13	36	5	37	44	0	1	6	0	4	8

What were the leading causes of road traffic accidents in the given timeframe? Please include a statistical breakdown by category, such as speeding, drink-driving, reckless driving, poor weather conditions, vehicle defects, and driver distraction (e.g., mobile phone use).

Table 2

			Collision Severity
Contributory Factors by Category and Likelihood			Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
Very Likely Contributory Factor	Behaviour/ Inexperience	Aggressive driving	2	5	3	10
		Careless/Reckless/In a hurry	2	21	54	77
		Driving too slow for conditions or slow veh	0	1	0	1
		Inexperience with type of vehicle	0	0	4	4
		Inexperienced or learner driver/rider	0	6	13	19
		Nervous/Uncertain/Panic	0	0	7	7
		Total: Behaviour/Inexperience	4	33	81	118
	Driver/Rider Error	Failed to judge other persons path or speed	3	20	70	93
		Failed to look properly	6	58	205	269
		Failed to signal/Misleading signal	0	0	4	4
		Junction overshoot	0	0	5	5
		Loss of control	1	16	47	64
		Poor turn or manoeuvre	2	21	68	91
		Sudden braking	1	2	11	14
		Swerved	0	4	16	20
		Too close to cyclist, horse or pedestrian	0	5	1	6
		Total: Driver/Rider Error	13	126	427	566
	Impairment/Distraction	Distraction in vehicle	0	3	20	23
		Distraction outside vehicle	0	0	3	3
		Driver using mobile phone	1	0	2	3
		Fatigue	0	0	8	8
		Illness or disability, mental or physical	0	3	7	10
		Impaired by alcohol	1	10	42	53
		Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)	1	3	11	15
		Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility	0	0	2	2
		Rider wearing dark clothing	0	0	2	2
		Total: Impairment/Distraction	3	19	97	119
	Injudicious Action	Cyclist entering road from pavement	0	2	9	11
		Disobeyed automatic traffic signal	0	2	19	21
		Disobeyed double white line	0	0	1	1
		Disobeyed Give Way or Stop sign or markings	0	6	21	27
		Disobeyed pedestrian crossing facility	0	1	2	3
		Exceeding speed limit	5	11	20	36
		Following too close	0	1	36	37
		Illegal turn or direction of travel	0	3	5	8
		Travelling too fast for conditions	1	10	25	36
		Vehicle travelling along pavement	0	4	3	7
		Total: Injudicious Action	6	40	141	187
	Pedestrian Only	Careless/Reckless/In a hurry	0	6	6	12
		Crossed road masked by stationary or parked veh	0	3	6	9
		Dangerous action in carriageway (eg playing)	0	2	5	7
		Disability or illness, mental or physical	0	1	2	3
		Failed to judge vehicles path or speed	2	7	5	14
		Failed to look properly	0	17	21	38
		Impaired by alcohol	0	1	5	6
		Pedestrian wearing dark clothing at night	0	3	4	7
		Wrong use of pedestrian crossing facility	0	4	6	10
		Total: Pedestrian Only	2	44	60	106
	Road Environment	Animal or object in carriageway	0	1	10	11
		Defective traffic signals	0	0	2	2
		Deposit on road (eg oil, mud, chippings)	0	3	11	14
		Inadequate/Masked signs or road markings	0	0	1	1
		Poor or defective road surface	0	3	4	7
		Road layout (eg bend, hill, narrow road)	1	5	26	32
		Slippery road (due to weather)	2	10	53	65
		Temporary road layout (eg contraflow)	0	0	1	1
		Traffic calming (eg speed cushions, humps, chicanes)	0	0	1	1
		Total: Road Environment	3	22	109	134
	Special Code	Emergency vehicle on call	0	1	2	3
		Other	0	0	1	1
		Stolen vehicle	0	6	2	8
		Vehicle door opened or closed negligently	0	0	4	4
		Vehicle in course of crime	0	7	7	14
		Total: Special Code	0	14	16	30
Vehicle Defect	Defective brakes	0	0	9	9
	Defective lights or indicators	0	1	0	1
	Defective steering or suspension	0	0	2	2
	Overloaded or poorly loaded vehicle or trailer	0	3	1	4
	Tyres illegal, defective or under inflated	0	1	6	7
	Total: Vehicle Defect	0	5	18	23
Vision Affected	Buildings, road signs, street furniture	0	1	0	1
	Dazzling sun	1	2	15	18
	Rain, sleet, snow, or fog	0	4	6	10
	Road layout (eg bend, winding road, hill crest)	0	1	6	7
	Stationary or parked vehicle	0	2	20	22
	Vegetation	0	1	3	4
	Vehicle blind spot	0	0	2	2
	Total: Vision Affected	1	11	52	64
'Very Likely' Total		32	314	1001	1347
Possible Contributory Factor	Behaviour/ Inexperience	Aggressive driving	1	1	6	8
		Careless/Reckless/In a hurry	3	19	44	66
		Inexperience of driving on the left	0	0	1	1
		Inexperience with type of vehicle	0	4	4	8
		Inexperienced or learner driver/rider	1	5	6	12
		Nervous/Uncertain/Panic	0	2	3	5
		Total: Behaviour/Inexperience	5	31	64	100
	Driver/Rider Error	Failed to judge other persons path or speed	2	18	54	74
		Failed to look properly	4	24	107	135
		Failed to signal/Misleading signal	0	6	3	9
		Junction overshoot	0	0	3	3
		Junction restart	0	1	0	1
		Loss of control	0	5	19	24
		Poor turn or manoeuvre	1	11	26	38
		Sudden braking	0	2	28	30
		Swerved	0	3	4	7
		Too close to cyclist, horse or pedestrian	0	0	1	1
		Total: Driver/Rider Error	7	70	245	322
	Impairment/Distraction	Distraction in vehicle	0	2	17	19
		Distraction outside vehicle	0	0	10	10
		Driver using mobile phone	0	1	2	3
		Fatigue	0	0	12	12
		Illness or disability, mental or physical	1	3	7	11
		Impaired by alcohol	0	7	8	15
		Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)	0	4	7	11
		Not displaying lights at night or in poor visibility	0	0	1	1
		Uncorrected, defective eyesight	0	1	0	1
		Total: Impairment/Distraction	1	18	64	83
	Injudicious Action	Cyclist entering road from pavement	0	1	2	3
		Disobeyed automatic traffic signal	0	0	10	10
		Disobeyed double white line	1	0	1	2
		Disobeyed Give Way or Stop sign or markings	1	2	9	12
		Disobeyed pedestrian crossing facility	0	0	1	1
		Exceeding speed limit	3	12	30	45
		Following too close	0	6	22	28
		Travelling too fast for conditions	1	5	26	32
		Total: Injudicious Action	6	26	101	133
	Pedestrian Only	Careless/Reckless/In a hurry	0	0	7	7
		Crossed road masked by stationary or parked veh	0	1	2	3
		Dangerous action in carriageway (eg playing)	0	0	1	1
		Disability or illness, mental or physical	0	1	0	1
		Failed to judge vehicles path or speed	0	1	9	10
		Failed to look properly	1	3	12	16
		Impaired by alcohol	0	1	1	2
		Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)	0	0	1	1
		Pedestrian wearing dark clothing at night	0	1	0	1
		Wrong use of pedestrian crossing facility	0	2	1	3
		Total: Pedestrian Only	1	10	34	45
	Road Environment	Animal or object in carriageway	1	0	4	5
		Defective traffic signals	0	0	2	2
		Deposit on road (eg oil, mud, chippings)	0	0	4	4
		Inadequate/Masked signs or road markings	0	0	3	3
		Poor or defective road surface	0	0	7	7
		Road layout (eg bend, hill, narrow road)	3	2	20	25
		Slippery road (due to weather)	0	4	33	37
		Traffic calming (eg speed cushions, humps, chicanes)	0	0	2	2
		Total: Road Environment	4	6	75	85
	Special Code	Emergency vehicle on call	0	0	1	1
		Vehicle door opened or closed negligently	0	1	1	2
		Vehicle in course of crime	0	0	2	2
		Total: Special Code	0	1	4	5
	Vehicle Defect	Defective brakes	0	2	1	3
		Defective steering or suspension	0	0	2	2
		Overloaded or poorly loaded vehicle or trailer	0	2	1	3
Tyres illegal, defective or under inflated		0	1	2	3
Total: Vehicle Defect		0	5	6	11
Vision Affected	Dazzling sun	0	0	7	7
	Rain, sleet, snow, or fog	0	1	7	8
	Road layout (eg bend, winding road, hill crest)	2	3	4	9
	Spray from other vehicles	0	1	0	1
	Stationary or parked vehicle	0	5	7	12
	Vegetation	0	0	3	3
	Vehicle blind spot	0	1	7	8
	Visor or windscreen dirty, scratched or frosted etc.	0	0	1	1
	Total: Vision Affected	2	11	36	49
'Possible Contributory Factor' Total		26	178	629	833
	Grand Total		58	492	1630	2180

How many of these accidents involved drivers aged under 25 years old or over 70 years old? If available, please indicate any trends or patterns related to these age groups.

Ages 6 – 25 = 425 collisions. The majority of these involved 17-25 year olds and cars. The majority of collisions involving people under 17 involved pedal cycles.

Ages 70 – 96 = 223 collisions. The majority of these involved cars and people between the ages of 70 and 85.

Identify the most hazardous roads and junctions based on accident frequency during this period, along with the total number of incidents recorded at each location.

Table 3.1
Jan-Nov 2024 Collisions split by area (Local Authority) and Road
		Collision Severity
	First Road Class and Number	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Grand Total
Bournemouth	A35	0	5	26	31
	A338	0	2	12	14
	A341	0	3	6	9
	A347	0	3	12	15
	A348	0	0	7	7
	A3040	0	0	1	1
	A3049	1	1	15	17
	A3060	0	2	14	16
	B3059	0	0	4	4
	B3063	0	2	12	14
	B3064	0	0	3	3
	B3066	0	2	11	13
	C301	0	0	5	5
	C307	0	1	3	4
	C308	0	1	1	2
	C309	0	2	10	12
	C310	0	0	1	1
	C311	0	0	1	1
	C312	0	1	1	2
	C318	0	1	2	3
	C320	0	4	15	19
	C321	0	1	10	11
	C3473	0	0	1	1
	Unclassified	0	16	94	110
	Bournemouth Total	1	47	267	315
Poole	A31	0	0	4	4
	A35	0	2	21	23
	A341	0	1	3	4
	A347	0	0	1	1
	A349	0	0	11	11
	A350	0	4	7	11
	A3040	0	1	7	8
	A3049	0	1	19	20
	B3061	0	3	14	17
	B3065	0	0	2	2
	B3068	0	9	22	31
	B3074	0	3	7	10
	B3369	0	1	4	5
	C1	0	1	8	9
	C2	0	0	2	2
	C6	0	1	1	2
	C7	0	0	4	4
	C10	0	0	2	2
	C12	0	0	1	1
	C (blank)	0	5	31	36
	Unclassified	0	10	55	65
	Poole Total	0	42	226	268
Christchurch	A35	1	2	14	17
	A337	0	1	3	4
	A338	0	0	1	1
	B3049	0	0	1	1
	B3058	0	0	1	1
	B3059	0	0	3	3
	B3073	0	3	9	12
	B3347	0	0	1	1
	C16	0	0	1	1
	C137	0	1	1	2
	C156	0	0	1	1
	C170	0	0	1	1
	C313	0	0	1	1
	C340	0	0	1	1
	C350	0	0	1	1
	C497	0	0	3	3
	Unclassified	0	3	12	15
	Christchurch Total	1	10	55	66
East Dorset	A31	1	5	25	31
	A338	0	1	4	5
	A347	0	0	2	2
	A348	0	3	7	10
	A350	0	0	3	3
	A354	2	0	4	6
	B3062	0	0	1	1
	B3072	0	3	2	5
	B3073	0	2	9	11
	B3074	0	2	1	3
	B3075	0	1	0	1
	B3078	0	3	6	9
	B3081	0	0	3	3
	B3082	0	0	3	3
	C2	1	2	2	5
	C5	0	2	1	3
	C26	0	0	1	1
	C50	0	3	5	8
	C104	0	0	1	1
	C117	0	0	1	1
	C123	0	0	1	1
	C124	0	1	2	3
	C156	0	0	2	2
	C (blank)	0	0	1	1
	Unclassified	0	3	12	15
	East Dorset Total	4	31	99	134
North Dorset	A30	0	2	6	8
	A31	0	0	3	3
	A350	1	1	2	4
	A354	0	0	10	10
	A357	1	0	6	7
	B3075	0	0	1	1
	B3081	0	3	15	18
	B3082	0	0	3	3
	B3091	0	1	7	8
	B3092	0	0	1	1
	C2	0	0	1	1
	C6	0	0	1	1
	C13	0	3	5	8
	C14	0	0	2	2
	C21	0	0	2	2
	C25	0	0	1	1
	C31	0	2	1	3
	C32	0	0	1	1
	C34	0	0	1	1
	C47	0	0	1	1
	C71	0	1	0	1
	C74	0	1	2	3
	C85	0	1	0	1
	C94	0	0	1	1
	C108	0	0	1	1
	C123	0	0	1	1
	C159	0	0	1	1
	C173	0	0	1	1
	Unclassified	0	2	10	12
	North Dorset Total	2	17	87	106
Purbeck	A31	0	1	1	2
	A35	0	3	14	17
	A350	1	1	4	6
	A351	0	5	8	13
	A352	0	1	3	4
	B3067	0	1	2	3
	B3068	0	0	2	2
	B3070	0	0	2	2
	B3075	0	1	1	2
	B3351	0	2	3	5
	C6	0	0	2	2
	C7	0	1	4	5
	C25	0	0	1	1
	C27	0	0	1	1
	C62	0	0	1	1
	C63	0	0	3	3
	C80	0	1	0	1
	C113	0	1	0	1
	C149	0	0	2	2
	Unclassified	0	4	6	10
	Purbeck Total	1	22	60	83
West Dorset	A30	1	1	6	8
	A35	2	8	30	40
	A37	1	1	11	13
	A350	0	0	1	1
	A352	0	2	13	15
	A353	0	0	2	2
	A354	0	1	15	16
	A356	0	4	1	5
	A3030	0	1	1	2
	A3052	0	0	1	1
	A3066	0	4	6	10
	B3142	0	0	1	1
	B3143	0	0	1	1
	B3144	0	0	8	8
	B3145	0	1	4	5
	B3147	0	0	2	2
	B3150	0	1	5	6
	B3156	0	1	1	2
	B3157	1	5	11	17
	B3159	0	0	2	2
	B3162	0	1	2	3
	B3163	0	0	1	1
	B3164	0	0	2	2
	B3165	0	0	1	1
	B3390	0	0	3	3
	C11	0	0	1	1
	C12	0	0	8	8
	C33	0	0	2	2
	C34	0	0	4	4
	C35	1	2	2	5
	C43	0	1	0	1
	C45	0	2	0	2
	C54	0	0	1	1
	C59	0	0	1	1
	C63	0	1	0	1
	C67	0	1	0	1
	C68	0	0	1	1
	C69	0	1	0	1
	C80	0	0	1	1
	C83	0	0	1	1
	C93	0	0	2	2
	C133	0	0	1	1
	C160	0	0	1	1
	C163	0	1	0	1
	C907	0	0	1	1
	Unclassified	0	8	21	29
	West Dorset Total	6	48	179	233
Weymouth & Portland	A353	0	0	1	1
	A354	0	5	18	23
	B3154	0	0	1	1
	B3155	0	1	8	9
	B3156	0	0	2	2
	B3159	0	4	4	8
	B3178	0	0	1	1
	C905	0	1	0	1
	C906	0	0	1	1
	C907	0	0	1	1
	C912	0	1	0	1
	C920	0	0	1	1
	C922	0	1	1	2
	C926	0	0	1	1
	C927	0	1	3	4
	Unclassified	0	6	17	23
	Weymouth & Portland Total	0	20	60	80
	Grand Total	15	237	1033	1285

Table 3.2
Top 10 cluster sites for 5 or more collisions in Jan-Nov 2024 within a 150m radius (ranked by total Collisions)
					Collisions				Casualties
ID	Rank	Location Description	Easting	Northing	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
1	1	A3049 WALLISDOWN ROUNDABOUT JUNCTION WITH A3049 WALLISDOWN ROAD.	406427	94100	0	1	8	9	0	1	12	13
2	2	B3061 ASHLEY ROAD JUNCTION WITH C RICHMOND ROAD.	404405	92135	0	4	5	9	0	4	5	9
3	3	UC CARDIGAN ROAD APPROX. 50M EAST OF JUNCTION WITH C321 WIMBORNE ROAD.	408683	93529	0	2	5	7	0	2	5	7
4	4	A3049 ALMA ROAD CROSSROADS WITH UC HERON COURT ROAD.	409291	93181	0	0	6	6	0	0	9	9
5	5	UC RICHMOND GARDENS JUNCTION WITH C307 RICHMOND HILL.	408741	91469	0	2	4	6	0	2	6	8
6	6	A35 STINSFORD ROUNDABOUT JUNCTION WITH C80 HOLLOW HILL.	370887	91216	0	1	5	6	0	1	6	7
7	7	B3144 GREAT WESTERN ROAD OUTSIDE NUMBER 31B.	369091	90294	0	0	6	6	0	0	6	6
8	7	A35 BOURNEMOUTH STATION ROUNDABOUT WITH C320 HOLDENHURST ROAD.	409765	91777	0	1	5	6	0	1	5	6
9	7	B3068 RINGWOOD ROAD APPROX. 45M NORTHEAST OF B3061 OLD WAREHAM ROAD ROUNDABOUT.	403852	93716	0	1	5	6	0	1	5	6
10	10	A31 CANFORD BOTTOM ROUNDABOUT WITH A31.	404382	100357	0	0	5	5	0	0	7	7

Provide a ranked list of UK cities and regions with the highest number of traffic accidents, specifying the recorded figures for each.

See table 3.1

Cookies

Traffic accidents