Road risk in Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest ranks 46 of 192 British highway authorities on our road risk score. Here is what the official record shows, and how it compares.
Police recorded 502 injury collisions in Waltham Forest in 2025, hurting 569 people, of whom 88 were killed or seriously injured and 3 were killed. Set against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 146.7 killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, 82% above the median ranked authority (80.5).
- Collisions
- 502 in 2025
- People hurt
- 569 casualties
- Killed or seriously injured
- 88
- Killed
- 3
- KSI per billion vehicle miles
- 146.7 (median 80.5)
- KSI, three-year average
- 71.7 a year
- Severity-adjusted KSI, 2025
- 90 (recorded: 88)
- Severity-adjusted KSI, three-year average
- 74.7 a year (recorded: 71.7)
- KSI per 100,000 residents
- 31 — rank 126
- Population
- 283,713
- Risk score
- 62.3/100 — rank 46 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 Waltham Forest
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions were down 15.9%, with 2021 the worst year of the period at 597 collisions.
Collisions per year in Waltham Forest
2025: 502 (up 0.6% on the year before) · peak 597 in 2021 · -15.9% across the period
Axis clipped to the data range to show year-on-year movement.
Waltham Forest looks more dangerous per mile driven than per resident
Divide casualties by the people who live here and Waltham Forest ranks 126. Divide by the miles actually driven on its roads and it ranks 46 — a difference of 80 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 Waltham Forest
8.45
offences per 1,000 residents
2,364
offences recorded, 12 months
22
of 287 areas, worst first
Waltham Forest recorded 8.45 vehicle offences per 1,000 residents, above the England and Wales rate of 5.04.
Rate calculated from 2,364 offences and a population of 279,700 (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 Waltham Forest
These are the road users with the least protection when something goes wrong, and they carry a disproportionate share of the serious injuries. Across 502 collisions in Waltham Forest, the three groups appear 316 times between them — an involvement rate of 62.9%.
| Road user | Collisions | Share of all collisions |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 107 | 21.3% |
| Cyclists | 125 | 24.9% |
| Motorcyclists | 84 | 16.7% |
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 Waltham Forest
DfT records the light level and road surface at every collision, but publishes neither below national level. These are Waltham Forest’s own shares over 1,506 collisions, with the national figure beside each one for comparison.
| Share of collisions | Waltham Forest | National | How it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| In darknessAny collision where the officer recorded darkness, lit or unlit. | 33.9% | 28.7% | above the national figure |
| In darkness, no street lightingThe rural lighting picture rather than the urban speeding one. | 0.6% | 6.3% | a small fraction of the national figure |
| On a wet road surfaceWet, damp or standing water at the scene. | 17.4% | 24.5% | below the national figure |
| On snow or iceRare everywhere, and concentrated in a handful of authorities. | 0.4% | 1.4% | a small fraction of the national figure |
On the darkness share, Waltham Forest ranks 10 of 192 authorities, counting from the highest.
The winter effect. Collisions in Waltham Forest run 14% lower from November to January than from May to July — against 4.5% lower nationally. That is 363 collisions against 422.
What this does not tell you
- A share is not a rate. A high darkness share means darkness accounts for more of Waltham Forest’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.
Waltham Forest against similar authorities
A national rank compares Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest is 7 of 11 on casualties per mile driven, against a group median of 152.8.
| Authority | KSI / bn miles | Score | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haringey | 331.5 | 64.1 | 38 |
| Lewisham | 291.4 | 73.7 | 8 |
| Merton | 207 | 68.5 | 23 |
| Brent | 169.1 | 69 | 21 |
| Ealing | 156.1 | 62.6 | 45 |
| Sutton | 152.8 | 61.9 | 50 |
| Waltham Forest (this page) | 146.7 | 62.3 | 46 |
| Greenwich | 145.5 | 60 | 58 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 101.8 | 49.8 | 98 |
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.
Waltham Forest against its closest comparators
Waltham Forest sits 46 of 192 nationally, and 42 of 148 within England. These are the authorities nearest to it in the table.
| # | Authority | Score | KSI / bn miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | Glasgow City | 63 | 107.7 |
| 45 | Ealing | 62.6 | 156.1 |
| 46 | Waltham Forest (this page) | 62.3 | 146.7 |
| 47 | Norfolk | 62.2 | 95 |
| 48 | Bristol, City of | 62 | 158 |
Road risk in Waltham Forest, answered
How dangerous are the roads in Waltham Forest?
In the latest official DfT figures, 502 road collisions in Waltham Forest injured or killed 569 people, 88 of them killed or seriously injured. Measured against the traffic its roads actually carry, that is 146.7 people killed or seriously injured per billion vehicle miles, against a median of 80.5 across the ranked authorities — placing Waltham Forest 46 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 Waltham Forest rising or falling?
Across 2021–2025, recorded collisions in Waltham Forest were down 15.9%, with 2021 the worst year of the period at 597 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 Waltham Forest's roads?
In Waltham Forest there were 107 collisions involving pedestrians, 125 involving cyclists and 84 involving motorcyclists, out of 502 in total. Added together that is an involvement rate of 62.9%, 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 Waltham Forest?
Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest
Data is only useful if it changes what you do. These three are picked from Waltham Forest’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
25% of collisions in Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest'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
21% 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 Waltham Forest and UK road risk
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The full sortable league table, with the method behind it.
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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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