Road risk in Kensington and Chelsea
Kensington and Chelsea ranks 11 of 192 British highway authorities on our road risk score. Here is what the official record shows, and how it compares.
Police recorded 565 injury collisions in Kensington and Chelsea in 2025, hurting 614 people, of whom 127 were killed or seriously injured and 1 were killed. Set against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 422.1 killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, 424% above the median ranked authority (80.5).
- Collisions
- 565 in 2025
- People hurt
- 614 casualties
- Killed or seriously injured
- 127
- Killed
- 1
- KSI per billion vehicle miles
- 422.1 (median 80.5)
- KSI, three-year average
- 125.7 a year
- Severity-adjusted KSI, 2025
- 129 (recorded: 127)
- Severity-adjusted KSI, three-year average
- 129.3 a year (recorded: 125.7)
- KSI per 100,000 residents
- 87.1 — rank 3
- Population
- 145,734
- Risk score
- 71.3/100 — rank 11 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 Kensington and Chelsea
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions were down 7.8%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 640 collisions.
Collisions per year in Kensington and Chelsea
2025: 565 (up 0.2% on the year before) · peak 640 in 2023 · -7.8% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
Vehicle crime · year ending June 2026
Vehicle crime in Kensington and Chelsea
13.90
offences per 1,000 residents
2,009
offences recorded, 12 months
1
of 287 areas, worst first
Kensington and Chelsea recorded 13.90 vehicle offences per 1,000 residents, above the England and Wales rate of 5.04.
Rate calculated from 2,009 offences and a population of 144,500 (ONS mid-2024), both taken from the same ONS release. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables, year ending June 2026; police recorded crime collected by the Home Office.
Pedestrians, cyclists and riders in Kensington and Chelsea
These are the road users with the least protection when something goes wrong, and they carry a disproportionate share of the serious injuries. Across 565 collisions in Kensington and Chelsea, the three groups appear 481 times between them — an involvement rate of 85.1%.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 130 | 23.0% |
| Cyclists | 227 | 40.2% |
| Motorcyclists | 124 | 21.9% |
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 Kensington and Chelsea
DfT records the light level and road surface at every collision, but publishes neither below national level. These are Kensington and Chelsea’s own shares over 1,769 collisions, with the national figure beside each one for comparison.
| Share of collisions | Kensington and Chelsea | National | How it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| In darknessAny collision where the officer recorded darkness, lit or unlit. | 30% | 28.7% | close to the national figure |
| In darkness, no street lightingThe rural lighting picture rather than the urban speeding one. | 0.9% | 6.3% | a small fraction of the national figure |
| On a wet road surfaceWet, damp or standing water at the scene. | 17.2% | 24.5% | below the national figure |
| On snow or iceRare everywhere, and concentrated in a handful of authorities. | 0.2% | 1.4% | a small fraction of the national figure |
On the darkness share, Kensington and Chelsea ranks 52 of 192 authorities, counting from the highest.
The winter effect. Collisions in Kensington and Chelsea run 7.6% lower from November to January than from May to July — against 4.5% lower nationally. That is 414 collisions against 448.
What this does not tell you
- A share is not a rate. A high darkness share means darkness accounts for more of Kensington and Chelsea’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.
Kensington and Chelsea against similar authorities
A national rank compares Kensington and Chelsea 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 Kensington and Chelsea is 5 of 11 on casualties per mile driven, against a group median of 420.9.
| Authority | KSI / bn miles | Score | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | 563.5 | 76.5 | 5 |
| Southwark | 480.8 | 74.4 | 7 |
| Hackney | 468.3 | 72.5 | 9 |
| Islington | 440.4 | 71.5 | 10 |
| Kensington and Chelsea (this page) | 422.1 | 71.3 | 11 |
| Lambeth | 420.9 | 66.3 | 28 |
| Camden | 386.7 | 75 | 6 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 364.6 | 67.9 | 25 |
| Barnet | 114.1 | 59.9 | 59 |
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.
Kensington and Chelsea against its closest comparators
Kensington and Chelsea sits 11 of 192 nationally, and 11 of 148 within England. These are the authorities nearest to it in the table.
Road risk in Kensington and Chelsea, answered
How dangerous are the roads in Kensington and Chelsea?
In the latest official DfT figures, 565 road collisions in Kensington and Chelsea injured or killed 614 people, 127 of them killed or seriously injured. Measured against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 422.1 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, against a median of 80.5 across the ranked authorities — placing Kensington and Chelsea 11 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 Kensington and Chelsea rising or falling?
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions in Kensington and Chelsea were down 7.8%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 640 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 Kensington and Chelsea's roads?
In Kensington and Chelsea there were 130 collisions involving pedestrians, 227 involving cyclists and 124 involving motorcyclists, out of 565 in total. Added together that is an involvement rate of 85.1%, 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 Kensington and Chelsea?
Kensington and Chelsea is a london borough, 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 Kensington and Chelsea
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Kensington and Chelsea’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
40% of collisions in Kensington and Chelsea 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 22% of Kensington and Chelsea'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
23% of collisions here involve a pedestrian, and those are the cases most often argued over. Footage removes the argument.
How it works →
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More on Kensington and Chelsea 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.
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