Road risk in Aberdeen City
Aberdeen City ranks 123 of 192 British highway authorities on our road risk score. Here is what the official record shows, and how it compares.
Police recorded 65 injury collisions in Aberdeen City in 2025, hurting 75 people, of whom 37 were killed or seriously injured and 2 were killed. Set against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 46.1 killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, 43% below the median ranked authority (80.5).
- Collisions
- 65 in 2025
- People hurt
- 75 casualties
- Killed or seriously injured
- 37
- Killed
- 2
- KSI per billion vehicle miles
- 46.1 (median 80.5)
- KSI, three-year average
- 41.3 a year
- Severity-adjusted KSI, 2025
- 41 (recorded: 37)
- Severity-adjusted KSI, three-year average
- 45 a year (recorded: 41.3)
- KSI per 100,000 residents
- 16.1 — rank 183
- Population
- 230,180
- Risk score
- 45.7/100 — rank 123 of 192
Compiled by Stephen Hall, Data lead, Swift Assist. Source: DfT STATS19 and DfT road traffic estimates (2025), OGL v3. Updated 2026-10-08.
Five years of collisions in Aberdeen City
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions were up 10.2%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 91 collisions.
Collisions per year in Aberdeen City
2025: 65 (down 3% on the year before) · peak 91 in 2023 · +10.2% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
Aberdeen City looks more dangerous per mile driven than per resident
Divide casualties by the people who live here and Aberdeen City ranks 183. Divide by the miles actually driven on its roads and it ranks 123 — a difference of 60 places.
That gap is the signature of a place that absorbs other people’s traffic. Relative to the volume its roads carry, the harm done here is worse than the resident population suggests, which is the pattern you would expect where a trunk route, a commuter corridor or a visitor economy brings in drivers who are not counted in the denominator everyone else uses. Neither number is the true one. Which you should use depends on whether you are asking how safe it is to live somewhere or how safe it is to drive there.
Pedestrians, cyclists and riders in Aberdeen City
These are the road users with the least protection when something goes wrong, and they carry a disproportionate share of the serious injuries. Across 65 collisions in Aberdeen City, the three groups appear 46 times between them — an involvement rate of 70.8%.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 16 | 24.6% |
| Cyclists | 13 | 20.0% |
| Motorcyclists | 17 | 26.2% |
A single collision can involve more than one of these groups and is then counted in each row, so the rows do not add up to a share of the total.
When collisions happen in Aberdeen City
DfT records the light level and road surface at every collision, but publishes neither below national level. These are Aberdeen City’s own shares over 223 collisions, with the national figure beside each one for comparison.
| Share of collisions | Aberdeen City | National | How it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| In darknessAny collision where the officer recorded darkness, lit or unlit. | 35.4% | 28.7% | above the national figure |
| In darkness, no street lightingThe rural lighting picture rather than the urban speeding one. | 3.6% | 6.3% | well below the national figure |
| On a wet road surfaceWet, damp or standing water at the scene. | 32.7% | 24.5% | above the national figure |
| On snow or iceRare everywhere, and concentrated in a handful of authorities. | 2.2% | 1.4% | well above the national figure |
On the darkness share, Aberdeen City ranks 3 of 192 authorities, counting from the highest.
The winter effect. Collisions in Aberdeen City run 46.5% higher from November to January than from May to July — against 4.5% lower nationally. That is 63 collisions against 43.
What this does not tell you
- A share is not a rate. A high darkness share means darkness accounts for more of Aberdeen City’s collisions — not that its roads are more dangerous overall. Read it alongside the casualties-per-mile-driven figure above.
- Condition is recorded, not tested. The officer records the surface and light level at the scene. It is an observation, not a measurement, and it is not a finding that the condition caused the collision.
- Exposure is not controlled for. Fewer people travel at 3am than at 3pm, so a collision in darkness is drawn from a smaller pool of journeys. Without hourly traffic counts, these shares describe when collisions happen rather than how risky an hour is.
Every authority compared on the same measures: winter road risk across Britain.
Aberdeen City against similar authorities
A national rank compares Aberdeen City with places that may be nothing like it. This is the comparison a council actually uses: its statistical nearest neighbours — the authorities ONS identifies as most similar on population, economy and demography, restricted to the same tier, so counties are compared with counties. Within this group Aberdeen City is 7 of 7 on casualties per mile driven, against a group median of 65.1.
| Authority | KSI / bn miles | Score | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dundee City | 100.3 | 61.4 | 52 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 77.4 | 60.9 | 53 |
| Fife | 67.1 | 38.9 | 142 |
| Renfrewshire | 65.1 | 48.3 | 107 |
| North Tyneside | 60.8 | 48.6 | 104 |
| West Lothian | 53 | 28.2 | 174 |
| Aberdeen City (this page) | 46.1 | 45.7 | 123 |
Peer group: ONS statistical nearest neighbours, Open Government Licence v3. ONS notes the grouping is a snapshot that is not comparable with earlier editions, and is not a judgement about any authority’s performance. The road figures against it are ours.
Aberdeen City against its closest comparators
Aberdeen City sits 123 of 192 nationally, and 14 of 26 within Scotland. These are the authorities nearest to it in the table.
| # | Authority | Score | KSI / bn miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 121 | Wigan | 46 | 75 |
| 122 | South Lanarkshire | 45.8 | 71.9 |
| 123 | Aberdeen City (this page) | 45.7 | 46.1 |
| 124 | Bracknell Forest | 44.7 | 67.5 |
| 125 | Oxfordshire | 44.6 | 53.8 |
Road risk in Aberdeen City, answered
How dangerous are the roads in Aberdeen City?
In the latest official DfT figures, 65 road collisions in Aberdeen City injured or killed 75 people, 37 of them killed or seriously injured. Measured against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 46.1 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, against a median of 80.5 across the ranked authorities — placing Aberdeen City 123 of 192 authorities on our combined score, where 1 is the highest risk. The score weighs that rate alongside who is being hurt, the five-year trend and how often a serious collision proves fatal, so the rank is not the rate alone.
Are road casualties in Aberdeen City rising or falling?
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions in Aberdeen City were up 10.2%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 91 collisions. Year-to-year movement in a single authority is noisy, so the five-year direction carries more than any single year's change.
Who is being hurt on Aberdeen City's roads?
In Aberdeen City there were 16 collisions involving pedestrians, 13 involving cyclists and 17 involving motorcyclists, out of 65 in total. Added together that is an involvement rate of 70.8%, though a collision involving two of those groups is counted in both figures, so it is a comparable index rather than a clean share.
Who is responsible for road safety in Aberdeen City?
Aberdeen City is a scottish council, and is the highway authority for its own roads. That means it sets local speed limits, designs junctions and crossings, and decides safety scheme spending. Motorways and most trunk roads are managed separately by National Highways in England, Transport Scotland, or the Welsh Government, so the worst road in an area is often not the council's to change. Enforcement sits with the local police force.
Where does this data come from?
DfT STATS19, the record police complete at the scene of every injury collision, published annually under the Open Government Licence, combined with DfT's own road traffic estimates for the mileage denominator. Collision, casualty and KSI counts on this page are for 2025; only the trend compares 2021–2025. STATS19 counts collisions police attended and recorded, so collisions never reported do not appear, and under-reporting is known to be worst for cyclists and for slight injuries.
What actually changes the odds in Aberdeen City
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Aberdeen City’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
20% of collisions in Aberdeen City 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 26% of Aberdeen City'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 →
Dashcam (parking mode)
£50–£150
Collisions in Aberdeen City are up 10% across the period. A dashcam with parking mode is the cheapest way to keep a disputed claim from becoming a 50/50 split.
How it works →
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More on Aberdeen City and UK road risk
All 192 British authorities ranked
The full sortable league table, with the method behind it.
Read more →Blackspots that were never fixed
Sites with injury collisions in every one of the last five years.
Read more →UK road risk: the national picture
What the official record says about Britain's roads overall.
Read more →Need this cut differently?
Custom analysis by ward, corridor or junction. Free for campaigns and press.
Read more →Free API
Pull these figures programmatically, with provenance on every endpoint.
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