Lincoln and Hull among UK’s traffic collision hotspots

Cities such as Lincoln and Hull and towns including Woking, Maidstone and Ashford have more road traffic collisions than would be expected given their population size, a new study by UCL researchers has found. For the study, published in PLOS ONE , researchers analysed traffic collision data along with population data from over 300 urban areas in England, Wales, France, Germany and Spain in 2018 and, for Spain only, 2015. They found that, across all five countries, port towns and cities often had higher than expected collision rates, suggesting a link between the presence of a sea or river port and more traffic collisions. In Lincoln, there were 35% more collisions than expected given the city's population size, while in Hull there were 22% more collisions. The authors noted that the two cities were also among the top ten cities with the most traffic congestion in the UK. The study also found a number of collision hotspots in the south-east of England, in between London and large ports on the coast. The worst hotspot was Woking (47% more traffic collisions than expected), followed by Maidstone (44% more) and Ashford (43% more).