Accident hotspots in Colchester: where crashes cluster
Police recorded 259 road collisions in Colchester in 2025. We mapped every one to find the junctions and roads where they concentrate.
57.9
Road Risk Score
Colchester ranks 43 of 125 towns we score — band C, around average
58.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents, 119.7 vehicle crimes per 100,000, 56.8% of collisions involving someone outside a car, and a five-year trend of -1.1%. How the score works.
Vulnerable road users in Colchester (2025)
47 of Colchester's 259 collisions (18%) involved pedestrians; 59 of Colchester's 259 collisions (23%) involved cyclists; 41 of Colchester's 259 collisions (16%) involved motorcyclists. Together those collisions left 42 people killed or seriously injured.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions | Killed or seriously injured | Serious-outcome rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 47 | 18% | 12 | 26% |
| Cyclists | 59 | 23% | 15 | 25% |
| Motorcyclists | 41 | 16% | 15 | 37% |
20 of Colchester’s collisions in 2025 involved a child casualty.
Colchester’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
Colchester recorded 259 police-reported collisions in 2025 — broadly flat year-on-year, or about 212 per 100,000 residents. Its most stubborn risk is St Andrew's Avenue, Myland, a hotspot in 4 of the last 5 years.
259
Collisions in Colchester (2025)
326
People injured or killed
+2.8%
Change vs 2024
~250
Modelled collisions in 2026 on current trend
Colchester’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.
St Andrew's Avenue, Myland
A133
14 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 21 casualties · 3 serious or fatal
St Botolph's Circus, New Town
A134
14 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 16 casualties · 2 serious or fatal
Southway, New Town
A134
10 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 10 casualties · 0 serious or fatal
Colchester’s worst accident spots
| # | Location | Road | Collisions | Casualties | Serious | Fatal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colne Bank Avenue, Myland | A133 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | St Andrew's Avenue, Myland | A1232 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Church Street, New Town | Local road | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | St Botolph's Circus, New Town | A134 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Mersea Road, Monkwick | B1025 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 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, Colchester’s rate of 212 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 Colchester in 2025: 47 collisions involved a pedestrian, 59 a cyclist and 41 a motorcyclist — overall, 212.3 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.
Colchester over 5 years
Collisions per year in Colchester
2025: 259 (up 2.8% on the year before) · peak 262 in 2021 · -1.1% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
2021 was Colchester’s worst year of the period with 262 collisions, against 234 in 2023. Of 2025’s 326 casualties, 71 were killed or seriously injured (3 deaths, 68 serious).
Build the Colchester 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 259 road collisions in Colchester in 2025, injuring or killing 326 people (DfT STATS19).
- “2021 was Colchester's worst year of the last 5 (262 collisions, against 234 in 2023).
- “Colchester's collision rate is 212 per 100,000 residents, against an average of 220 across the 125 areas we track.
- “47 collisions involved pedestrians, 59 collisions involved cyclists, 41 collisions involved motorcyclists — with 42 of those people killed or seriously injured.
- “20 collisions in Colchester 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.
Colchester's roads are Essex's responsibility
Collisions above are counted for Colchester. The body that maintains those roads, sets the speed limits and decides which junctions get fixed is Essex — so that is the level at which the record can be compared with anywhere else in Britain.
Per mile driven
111 of 192
Per resident
46 of 188
Risk band
Below average
Five-year trend
up 3.8%
Those two numbers disagree, and that is the story. Essex sits 46 of 188 measured per resident but 111 of 192 measured per mile actually driven — a gap of 65 places. Measured against the traffic the network actually carries rather than the number of people living beside it, the record is better than the headline per-head figure implies.
The full record for Essex — 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.
Essex’s full road risk record →What actually changes the odds in Colchester
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Colchester’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.
Helmet camera
£50–£200
23% of collisions in Colchester involve someone on a bike. In a disputed pull-out, footage from the rider's viewpoint is what settles liability.
How it works →
Alarmed disc lock
£20–£50
Motorcyclists are in 16% of Colchester's collisions, and bikes are also lifted rather than ridden away. An alarmed disc lock covers the theft half for about £30.
How it works →
Faraday key pouch / box
£9–£25
Even at Colchester's 120 vehicle crimes per 100,000 residents, relay theft is the method that needs no tools and leaves no damage. The pouch is the cheapest thing that stops it.
How it works →
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.