Road risk in Southampton
Southampton ranks 14 of 192 British highway authorities on our road risk score. Here is what the official record shows, and how it compares.
Police recorded 488 injury collisions in Southampton in 2025, hurting 565 people, of whom 124 were killed or seriously injured. Set against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 170.4 killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, 112% above the median ranked authority (80.5).
- Collisions
- 488 in 2025
- People hurt
- 565 casualties
- Killed or seriously injured
- 124
- Killed
- 0
- KSI per billion vehicle miles
- 170.4 (median 80.5)
- KSI, three-year average
- 111.3 a year
- Severity-adjusted KSI, 2025
- 122.8 (recorded: 124)
- Severity-adjusted KSI, three-year average
- 106.2 a year (recorded: 111.3)
- KSI per 100,000 residents
- 47.8 — rank 35
- Population
- 259,230
- Risk score
- 70.7/100 — rank 14 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 Southampton
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions were up 11.9%, with 2025 the worst year of the period at 488 collisions.
Collisions per year in Southampton
2025: 488 (up 4.9% on the year before) · peak 488 in 2025 · +11.9% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
Southampton looks more dangerous per mile driven than per resident
Divide casualties by the people who live here and Southampton ranks 35. Divide by the miles actually driven on its roads and it ranks 14 — a difference of 21 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.
Vehicle crime · year ending June 2026
Vehicle crime in Southampton
7.07
offences per 1,000 residents
1,833
offences recorded, 12 months
48
of 287 areas, worst first
Southampton recorded 7.07 vehicle offences per 1,000 residents, above the England and Wales rate of 5.04.
Rate calculated from 1,833 offences and a population of 259,400 (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 Southampton
These are the road users with the least protection when something goes wrong, and they carry a disproportionate share of the serious injuries. Across 488 collisions in Southampton, the three groups appear 277 times between them — an involvement rate of 56.8%.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 91 | 18.6% |
| Cyclists | 101 | 20.7% |
| Motorcyclists | 85 | 17.4% |
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 Southampton
DfT records the light level and road surface at every collision, but publishes neither below national level. These are Southampton’s own shares over 1,381 collisions, with the national figure beside each one for comparison.
| Share of collisions | Southampton | National | How it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| In darknessAny collision where the officer recorded darkness, lit or unlit. | 32.1% | 28.7% | above 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. | 20.2% | 24.5% | below the national figure |
| On snow or iceRare everywhere, and concentrated in a handful of authorities. | 0.9% | 1.4% | well below the national figure |
On the darkness share, Southampton ranks 24 of 192 authorities, counting from the highest.
The winter effect. Collisions in Southampton run 10.7% higher from November to January than from May to July — against 4.5% lower nationally. That is 374 collisions against 338.
What this does not tell you
- A share is not a rate. A high darkness share means darkness accounts for more of Southampton’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.
Southampton against similar authorities
A national rank compares Southampton 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 Southampton is 1 of 8 on casualties per mile driven, against a group median of 115.3.
| Authority | KSI / bn miles | Score | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton (this page) | 170.4 | 70.7 | 14 |
| Nottingham | 169.6 | 79.5 | 3 |
| Bristol, City of | 158 | 62 | 48 |
| Portsmouth | 119.4 | 67.4 | 26 |
| Leeds | 111.2 | 60.1 | 57 |
| Derby | 104 | 50.8 | 95 |
| Coventry | 75.8 | 48.8 | 103 |
| Cardiff | 26.7 | 27.8 | 176 |
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.
Southampton against its closest comparators
Southampton sits 14 of 192 nationally, and 14 of 148 within England. These are the authorities nearest to it in the table.
| # | Authority | Score | KSI / bn miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Newham | 70.9 | 197 |
| 13 | Harrow | 70.9 | 142.8 |
| 14 | Southampton (this page) | 70.7 | 170.4 |
| 15 | Manchester | 70.3 | 141 |
| 16 | Richmond upon Thames | 70.3 | 206.1 |
Road risk in Southampton, answered
How dangerous are the roads in Southampton?
In the latest official DfT figures, 488 road collisions in Southampton injured or killed 565 people, 124 of them killed or seriously injured. Measured against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 170.4 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, against a median of 80.5 across the ranked authorities — placing Southampton 14 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 Southampton rising or falling?
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions in Southampton were up 11.9%, with 2025 the worst year of the period at 488 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 Southampton's roads?
In Southampton there were 91 collisions involving pedestrians, 101 involving cyclists and 85 involving motorcyclists, out of 488 in total. Added together that is an involvement rate of 56.8%, 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 Southampton?
Southampton is a unitary authority, 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 Southampton
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Southampton’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
21% of collisions in Southampton 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 17% of Southampton'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 Southampton are up 12% 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 Southampton and UK road risk
Where collisions cluster in Southampton
The interactive hotspot map, down to individual junctions.
Read more →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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