Accident hotspots in Bolton: where crashes cluster
Police recorded 273 road collisions in Bolton in 2025. We mapped every one to find the junctions and roads where they concentrate.
36.8
Road Risk Score
Bolton ranks 98 of 125 towns we score — band B, below average
45.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents, 47.3% of collisions involving someone outside a car, and a five-year trend of -17.3%. How the score works.
Vulnerable road users in Bolton (2025)
78 of Bolton's 273 collisions (29%) involved pedestrians; 36 of Bolton's 273 collisions (13%) involved cyclists; 15 of Bolton's 273 collisions (5%) involved motorcyclists. Together those collisions left 52 people killed or seriously injured.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions | Killed or seriously injured | Serious-outcome rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 78 | 29% | 25 | 32% |
| Cyclists | 36 | 13% | 16 | 44% |
| Motorcyclists | 15 | 5% | 11 | 73% |
43 of Bolton’s collisions in 2025 involved a child casualty.
Bolton’s busiest collision clusters (2025)
Each circle is a ~100m cluster of police-reported collisions. Larger circles = more collisions; red = at least one death. Click a circle for details.
The short answer
Bolton recorded 273 police-reported collisions in 2025 — broadly flat year-on-year, or about 139 per 100,000 residents. Its most stubborn risk is Moss Bank Way, Astley Bridge, a hotspot in 4 of the last 5 years.
273
Collisions in Bolton (2025)
348
People injured or killed
-2.8%
Change vs 2024
~250
Modelled collisions in 2026 on current trend
Bolton’s junctions that stay dangerous
These locations recorded multiple collisions in at least four of the last five years (2021–2025) — a persistent pattern, not a one-off bad year.
Moss Bank Way, Astley Bridge
A58
12 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 18 casualties · 1 serious or fatal
Bolton’s worst accident spots
| # | Location | Road | Collisions | Casualties | Serious | Fatal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kensington Street, Halliwell | A673 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Moss Bank Way, Astley Bridge | A58 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Higher Ainsworth Road, Black Lane | A58 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | M61, New Bury | M61 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Crumpsall Street, Halliwell | A666 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
What to do with this: if your regular routes cross the junctions above, they deserve extra care at peak times — these aren’t random locations, they’re where collisions repeat. For context, Bolton’s rate of 139 per 100,000 residents compares with an average of 220 across the 125 areas we track. A junction with a documented five-year history is also the strongest evidence a campaign can put in front of a councillor.
Vulnerable road users in Bolton in 2025: 78 collisions involved a pedestrian, 36 a cyclist and 15 a motorcyclist — overall, 139.3 collisions per 100,000 residents.
Area definition: figures cover 6km radius of the town centre. Per-100k rates use the mid-2023 ONS population estimate for the named town or district; where the area is radius-defined, treat the rate as indicative.
These figures come from the Department for Transport’s STATS19 dataset — every collision reported to the police in 2025 — clustered to roughly 100 metres and labelled via OpenStreetMap. Only police-reported incidents are included, so minor damage-only bumps are undercounted. See the full UK hotspots analysis for the national picture and methodology.
Need this cut a different way? A junction’s full history, cyclist or pedestrian casualties on their own, or a before-and-after on a scheme: we produce those, free for community groups, campaigners and journalists.
Bolton over 5 years
Collisions per year in Bolton
2025: 273 (down 2.8% on the year before) · peak 330 in 2021 · -17.3% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
2021 was Bolton’s worst year of the period with 330 collisions, against 261 in 2023. Of 2025’s 348 casualties, 89 were killed or seriously injured (3 deaths, 86 serious).
Build the Bolton story from this page
Every line below is computed from the official DfT STATS19 dataset and updates when new data is released — copy, check, publish. Free to use with a link to this page as the source.
- “Police recorded 273 road collisions in Bolton in 2025, injuring or killing 348 people (DfT STATS19).
- “2021 was Bolton's worst year of the last 5 (330 collisions, against 261 in 2023).
- “Bolton's collision rate is 139 per 100,000 residents, against an average of 220 across the 125 areas we track.
- “78 collisions involved pedestrians, 36 collisions involved cyclists, 15 collisions involved motorcyclists — with 52 of those people killed or seriously injured.
- “43 collisions in Bolton involved a child casualty in 2025.
Attribution: “Analysis by Swift Assist (swiftassistuk.co.uk) of DfT STATS19 data” with a link to this page. Methodology: how we process the data.
How Bolton compares nationally
Bolton is the highway authority for these roads, which means the same body counted in the national comparison below is the one that maintains them.
Per mile driven
139 of 192
Per resident
122 of 188
Risk band
Below average
Five-year trend
down 16.5%
The full record for Bolton — severity-adjusted casualties, the breakdown of who is being hurt, the darkness and ice profile, and a comparison against its ONS statistical neighbours rather than the national average — is on its own page.
Bolton’s full road risk record →What actually changes the odds in Bolton
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Bolton’s own figures above, each with the number that prompted it. Every guide explains how the thing works before it suggests buying anything, and most cost less than a third of a typical insurance excess.
We are a data business, not a retailer: these link to our guides, which link on to retailers. Some of those links earn us a small commission at no cost to you, and we hold no stock and take no payment for placement. All security guides.
Related on Swift Assist
UK accident hotspots (national)
Britain's 20 worst collision clusters, mapped from official data.
Read more →Cyclist collision map (national)
Where cyclists are hurt across Britain, from the same records.
Read more →Free data for campaigners
Junction histories, corridor studies and custom cuts, free for community groups.
Read more →Need this data for your own work?
Site and junction reports from £95, next working day. Free for community groups, campaigners and journalists.