Scottish council · Scotland

Road risk in South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire ranks 122 of 192 British highway authorities on our road risk score. Here is what the official record shows, and how it compares.

Below averageRisk score 45.8/100ONS code S12000029

Police recorded 220 injury collisions in South Lanarkshire in 2025, hurting 296 people, of whom 104 were killed or seriously injured and 4 were killed. Set against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 71.9 killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, 11% below the median ranked authority (80.5).

Collisions: 220 in 2025
People hurt: 296 casualties
Killed or seriously injured: 104
Killed: 4
KSI per billion vehicle miles: 71.9 (median 80.5)
KSI, three-year average: 112.3 a year
Severity-adjusted KSI, 2025: 114 (recorded: 104)
Severity-adjusted KSI, three-year average: 129.3 a year (recorded: 112.3)
KSI per 100,000 residents: 31.1 — rank 125
Population: 334,330
Risk score: 45.8/100 — rank 122 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.

Direction of travel

Five years of collisions in South Lanarkshire

Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions were up 19.6%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 262 collisions.

Collisions per year in South Lanarkshire

2025: 220 (down 13% on the year before) · peak 262 in 2023 · +19.6% across the period

Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.

Who is being hurt

Pedestrians, cyclists and riders in South Lanarkshire

These are the road users with the least protection when something goes wrong, and they carry a disproportionate share of the serious injuries. Across 220 collisions in South Lanarkshire, the three groups appear 88 times between them — an involvement rate of 40%.

Road user	Collisions	Share of all collisions
Pedestrians	51	23.2%
Cyclists	6	2.7%
Motorcyclists	31	14.1%

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.

Darkness, weather and the time of year

When collisions happen in South Lanarkshire

DfT records the light level and road surface at every collision, but publishes neither below national level. These are South Lanarkshire’s own shares over 735 collisions, with the national figure beside each one for comparison.

Share of collisions	South Lanarkshire	National	How it reads
In darknessAny collision where the officer recorded darkness, lit or unlit.	30.1%	28.7%	close to the national figure
In darkness, no street lightingThe rural lighting picture rather than the urban speeding one.	9.4%	6.3%	well above the national figure
On a wet road surfaceWet, damp or standing water at the scene.	36.2%	24.5%	well above the national figure
On snow or iceRare everywhere, and concentrated in a handful of authorities.	3.5%	1.4%	more than double the national figure

On the darkness share, South Lanarkshire ranks 51 of 192 authorities, counting from the highest.

The winter effect. Collisions in South Lanarkshire run 3.1% lower from November to January than from May to July — against 4.5% lower nationally. That is 185 collisions against 191.

What this does not tell you

A share is not a rate. A high darkness share means darkness accounts for more of South Lanarkshire’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.

Benchmark

South Lanarkshire against similar authorities

A national rank compares South Lanarkshire 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 South Lanarkshire is 2 of 7 on casualties per mile driven, against a group median of 60.9.

Authority	KSI / bn miles	Score	National rank
Torfaen	89.3	58.9	64
South Lanarkshire (this page)	71.9	45.8	122
Renfrewshire	65.1	48.3	107
East Ayrshire	60.9	53.7	80
West Lothian	53	28.2	174
Monmouthshire	51.5	35.6	157
North Lanarkshire	45.9	30.6	168

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.

National position

South Lanarkshire against its closest comparators

South Lanarkshire sits 122 of 192 nationally, and 13 of 26 within Scotland. These are the authorities nearest to it in the table.

#	Authority	Score	KSI / bn miles
120	Derbyshire	46.5	79.2
121	Wigan	46	75
122	South Lanarkshire (this page)	45.8	71.9
123	Aberdeen City	45.7	46.1
124	Bracknell Forest	44.7	67.5

See all 192 authorities →

Common questions

Road risk in South Lanarkshire, answered

How dangerous are the roads in South Lanarkshire?

In the latest official DfT figures, 220 road collisions in South Lanarkshire injured or killed 296 people, 104 of them killed or seriously injured. Measured against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 71.9 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, against a median of 80.5 across the ranked authorities — placing South Lanarkshire 122 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 South Lanarkshire rising or falling?

Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions in South Lanarkshire were up 19.6%, with 2023 the worst year of the period at 262 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 South Lanarkshire's roads?

In South Lanarkshire there were 51 collisions involving pedestrians, 6 involving cyclists and 31 involving motorcyclists, out of 220 in total. Added together that is an involvement rate of 40%, 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 South Lanarkshire?

South Lanarkshire 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 this means for you

What actually changes the odds in South Lanarkshire

Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from South Lanarkshire’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.

Alarmed disc lock

£20–£50

Motorcyclists are in 14% of South Lanarkshire'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 South Lanarkshire are up 20% 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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