Accident hotspots in Portsmouth: where crashes cluster
Police recorded 570 road collisions in Portsmouth in 2025. We mapped every one to find the junctions and roads where they concentrate.
64.3
Road Risk Score
Portsmouth ranks 31 of 125 towns we score — band D, above average
57.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents, 149 vehicle crimes per 100,000, 63.5% of collisions involving someone outside a car, and a five-year trend of +2.9%. How the score works.
Vulnerable road users in Portsmouth (2025)
95 of Portsmouth's 570 collisions (17%) involved pedestrians; 150 of Portsmouth's 570 collisions (26%) involved cyclists; 117 of Portsmouth's 570 collisions (21%) involved motorcyclists. Together those collisions left 93 people killed or seriously injured.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions | Killed or seriously injured | Serious-outcome rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 95 | 17% | 19 | 20% |
| Cyclists | 150 | 26% | 35 | 23% |
| Motorcyclists | 117 | 21% | 39 | 33% |
68 of Portsmouth’s collisions in 2025 involved a child casualty.
Portsmouth’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
Portsmouth recorded 570 police-reported collisions in 2025 — broadly flat year-on-year, or about 274 per 100,000 residents. Its most stubborn risk is A3, Hilsea, a hotspot in 5 of the last 5 years.
570
Collisions in Portsmouth (2025)
647
People injured or killed
-2.4%
Change vs 2024
~584
Modelled collisions in 2026 on current trend
Portsmouth’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.
A3, Hilsea
A3
19 collisions across 5 hotspot years · 25 casualties · 1 serious or fatal
Northern Road, Cosham
A3
16 collisions across 5 hotspot years · 16 casualties · 0 serious or fatal
Fratton Road, Fratton
A2047
13 collisions across 5 hotspot years · 15 casualties · 3 serious or fatal
Portsmouth’s worst accident spots
| # | Location | Road | Collisions | Casualties | Serious | Fatal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goldsmith Avenue, Fratton | A2030 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | A3, Hilsea | A3 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Allcot Road, Hilsea | A288 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Somers Town | A2030 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Northern Road, Cosham | A3 | 4 | 4 | 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, Portsmouth’s rate of 274 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 Portsmouth in 2025: 95 collisions involved a pedestrian, 150 a cyclist and 117 a motorcyclist — overall, 274 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.
Portsmouth over 5 years
Collisions per year in Portsmouth
2025: 570 (down 2.4% on the year before) · peak 584 in 2024 · +2.9% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
2024 was Portsmouth’s worst year of the period with 584 collisions, against 554 in 2021. Of 2025’s 647 casualties, 119 were killed or seriously injured (6 deaths, 113 serious).
Build the Portsmouth 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 570 road collisions in Portsmouth in 2025, injuring or killing 647 people (DfT STATS19).
- “2024 was Portsmouth's worst year of the last 5 (584 collisions, against 554 in 2021).
- “Portsmouth's collision rate is 274 per 100,000 residents, against an average of 220 across the 125 areas we track.
- “95 collisions involved pedestrians, 150 collisions involved cyclists, 117 collisions involved motorcyclists — with 93 of those people killed or seriously injured.
- “68 collisions in Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth compares nationally
Portsmouth 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
26 of 192
Per resident
53 of 188
Risk band
Above average
Five-year trend
up 6.8%
Those two numbers disagree, and that is the story. Portsmouth sits 53 of 188 measured per resident but 26 of 192 measured per mile actually driven — a gap of 27 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 Portsmouth — 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.
Portsmouth’s full road risk record →What actually changes the odds in Portsmouth
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Portsmouth’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
26% of collisions in Portsmouth 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 21% of Portsmouth'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 Portsmouth's 149 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.