Road Deaths and Serious Injuries on the Rise in London
So, get this, folks! The numbers are in, and it seems like road deaths and serious injuries (KSIs) in London have spiked big time over the last few months. According to the latest figures set to be reviewed by a Transport for London panel next week, we’re looking at the highest level of KSIs for this period since 2018/19. Now, that’s not exactly the kind of news you want to hear, right?
In the final quarter (Q4) of 2024/25, which covers the months from December to March, a total of 1,096 KSIs were reported due to road traffic collisions. That’s a whopping 27 fatalities and 1,069 serious injuries – yikes! The report doesn’t give us the KSI totals for the same period in 2023/24 or 2018/19, so we’re left hanging there. But hey, it’s all good because we’re about to dive into some more juicy details.
The report mentions that previous Q4s were actually showing improvement year on year since the pandemic hit, but it looks like we missed the mark this time around. Blame it on the unusually good weather, I guess? Apparently, when the sun’s out, everyone and their mother decide to hit the roads, leading to more accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. And guess what? The majority of the 27 fatalities in Q4 were pedestrians, making up 16 of them. At least that’s a drop from the previous year, where we had 20 pedestrian fatalities. So, small wins, right?
As for the serious injuries in Q4, here’s the breakdown:
– 381 were pedestrians (up from 332 in Q4 2023/24)
– 261 were cyclists (up from 214 in Q4 2023/24)
– 158 were car passengers (up from 150 in Q4 2023/24)
No numbers for motorcyclists, but apparently, there’s been a “slight decrease.” Overall, in 2024/25, we’re looking at 3,802 KSIs on London’s roads, which is a four percent increase from the previous year. However, the number of deaths actually went down from 105 to 98. Not too shabby, right?
Of the 98 fatalities in 2024/25:
– 54 were pedestrians (compared to 56 in 2023/24)
– 13 were motorcyclists (down from 23 in 2023/24)
– 9 were cyclists (one more than in 2023/24)
And for serious injuries during the whole year:
– 1,182 were pedestrians (up from 1,175 in 2023/24)
– 783 were motorcyclists (up from 739 in 2023/24)
– 1,037 were cyclists (up from 919 in 2023/24)
The report tries to reassure us that these increases aren’t really a big deal and that the total for 2024/25 is actually lower than in 2021/22 and 2022/23. So, maybe it’s not all doom and gloom after all, right? Well, who knows, really. But hey, let’s keep our fingers crossed that things start looking up soon.
