Accident hotspots in Manchester: where crashes cluster
Police recorded 712 road collisions in Manchester in 2025. We mapped every one to find the junctions and roads where they concentrate.
43.8
Road Risk Score
Manchester ranks 79 of 125 towns we score — band C, around average
46 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents, 0.2 vehicle crimes per 100,000, 64% of collisions involving someone outside a car, and a five-year trend of -0.3%. How the score works.
Manchester ward by ward
Every fatal and serious collision in Manchester matched to its council ward: 1,109 people killed or seriously injured across 32 wards, with an interactive map, every collision plotted, the roads driving each ward’s total, and a CSV built for briefing notes. Written so a single page can be sent to a ward councillor.
Open the ward analysisVulnerable road users in Manchester (2025)
215 of Manchester's 712 collisions (30%) involved pedestrians; 198 of Manchester's 712 collisions (28%) involved cyclists; 43 of Manchester's 712 collisions (6%) involved motorcyclists. Together those collisions left 190 people killed or seriously injured.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions | Killed or seriously injured | Serious-outcome rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 215 | 30% | 91 | 42% |
| Cyclists | 198 | 28% | 73 | 37% |
| Motorcyclists | 43 | 6% | 26 | 60% |
77 of Manchester’s collisions in 2025 involved a child casualty.
Manchester’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
Manchester recorded 712 police-reported collisions in 2025 — broadly flat year-on-year, or about 125 per 100,000 residents. Its most stubborn risk is Brunswick Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, a hotspot in 5 of the last 5 years.
712
Collisions in Manchester (2025)
848
People injured or killed
-1.1%
Change vs 2024
~702
Modelled collisions in 2026 on current trend
Manchester’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.
Brunswick Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock
A6
17 collisions across 5 hotspot years · 20 casualties · 5 serious or fatal
Whitworth Street, City Centre
A34
12 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 27 casualties · 6 serious or fatal
Wythenshawe Road, Northenden
A5103
11 collisions across 4 hotspot years · 13 casualties · 2 serious or fatal
Manchester’s worst accident spots
| # | Location | Road | Collisions | Casualties | Serious | Fatal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brunswick Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock | A6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Moss Lane East, Chorlton-on-Medlock | B5117 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Green End Road, Burnage | A34 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Wythenshawe Road, Northenden | A5103 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | New Welcome Street, Hulme | Local road | 3 | 3 | 2 | 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, Manchester’s rate of 125 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 Manchester in 2025: 215 collisions involved a pedestrian, 198 a cyclist and 43 a motorcyclist — overall, 125.4 collisions per 100,000 residents.
Area definition: figures cover Manchester council district (ONS). 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.
Manchester over 5 years
Collisions per year in Manchester
2025: 712 (down 1.1% on the year before) · peak 720 in 2024 · -0.3% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
2024 was Manchester’s worst year of the period with 720 collisions, against 638 in 2023. Of 2025’s 848 casualties, 261 were killed or seriously injured (10 deaths, 251 serious).
Build the Manchester 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 712 road collisions in Manchester in 2025, injuring or killing 848 people (DfT STATS19).
- “2024 was Manchester's worst year of the last 5 (720 collisions, against 638 in 2023).
- “Manchester's collision rate is 125 per 100,000 residents, against an average of 220 across the 125 areas we track.
- “215 collisions involved pedestrians, 198 collisions involved cyclists, 43 collisions involved motorcyclists — with 190 of those people killed or seriously injured.
- “77 collisions in Manchester 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 Manchester compares nationally
Manchester 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
15 of 192
Per resident
50 of 188
Risk band
Highest risk
Five-year trend
broadly flat
Those two numbers disagree, and that is the story. Manchester sits 50 of 188 measured per resident but 15 of 192 measured per mile actually driven — a gap of 35 places. Almost every published comparison quietly uses the per-head measure, which flatters places that carry a lot of through-traffic. On the measure that accounts for how much driving actually happens here, the record is worse than the usual figure suggests.
The full record for Manchester — 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.
Manchester’s full road risk record →What actually changes the odds in Manchester
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Manchester’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
28% of collisions in Manchester involve someone on a bike. In a disputed pull-out, footage from the rider's viewpoint is what settles liability.
How it works →
Dashcam (parking mode)
£50–£150
30% of collisions here involve a pedestrian, and those are the cases most often argued over. Footage removes the argument.
How it works →
Faraday key pouch / box
£9–£25
Even at Manchester's 0 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 →Manchester collisions by ward
Ward-level analysis with every collision mapped, for councillors and campaigners.
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.