Road collisions in Cardiff
Police recorded 1,342 road collisions involving injury in Cardiff between 2021 and 2025, about 268 a year. 12 of them were fatal, and an estimated 239 involved serious injury once DfT's severity adjustment is applied. These are reported injury collisions only: damage-only incidents and unreported injuries are not included.
Check your own street
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When collisions happen
The busiest hour was 3pm to 4pm, and 29% of collisions happened between 3pm and 7pm (lower than the 32% across Great Britain). Tuesday had the most collisions, and 24% happened at weekends.
Trend over time
Reported collisions went from 264 in 2021 to 272 in 2025, a rise of 3%. Counts are affected by traffic levels, population and changes in how police record injuries, so Cardiff should not be ranked against other areas on these numbers alone.
Who is affected
Across Cardiff, 1,719 people were injured or killed in these collisions. Pedestrians were 16% of casualties (14% across Great Britain), pedal cyclists 16% (12%) and motorcyclists 8% (12%). Car and taxi occupants made up 52%. 4 of the pedestrians were killed.
Children aged 0 to 15 were 10% of casualties, close to the 9% national share. People aged 16 to 25 were 26% (21% nationally), and people over 65 were 11% (10% nationally).
| Road user | Casualties | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 280 | 16.3% | 14.5% |
| Pedal cyclists | 279 | 16.2% | 11.9% |
| Motorcyclists | 135 | 7.9% | 12.4% |
| Car and taxi occupants | 896 | 52.1% | 54.4% |
| Bus and minibus occupants | 20 | 1.2% | 1.8% |
| Van and goods vehicle occupants | 56 | 3.3% | 3.5% |
| Other road users | 53 | 3.1% | 1.6% |
Casualties by age
| Age | Casualties | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | 27 | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| 6 to 10 | 47 | 2.8% | 2.6% |
| 11 to 15 | 91 | 5.4% | 4.8% |
| 16 to 20 | 214 | 12.6% | 10.6% |
| 21 to 25 | 226 | 13.3% | 11.0% |
| 26 to 35 | 346 | 20.4% | 20.8% |
| 36 to 45 | 244 | 14.4% | 15.8% |
| 46 to 55 | 181 | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| 56 to 65 | 139 | 8.2% | 10.1% |
| 66 to 75 | 84 | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| Over 75 | 98 | 5.8% | 4.5% |
Vehicles involved
19.7% of collisions involved a pedestrian casualty (17.7% nationally), 20.3% a cyclist (15.0%) and 9.8% a motorcyclist (15.3%). 3.1% involved a goods vehicle (3.9% nationally) and 23.8% involved a driver aged 17 to 24 (21.1%). 40 collisions involved an e-scooter.
| Vehicle | Vehicles | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars and taxis | 1,740 | 70.6% | 69.7% |
| Vans (up to 3.5 tonnes) | 157 | 6.4% | 6.4% |
| Heavy goods vehicles | 43 | 1.7% | 2.3% |
| Motorcycles | 143 | 5.8% | 9.3% |
| Pedal cycles | 285 | 11.6% | 8.7% |
| Buses and minibuses | 39 | 1.6% | 1.8% |
| Other vehicles | 57 | 2.3% | 1.8% |
Collision hotspots in Cardiff
These are the 100 metre squares with the most reported collisions in 2021 to 2025. Location is the average position of the collisions in each square, so treat it as approximate.
| # | Where | Junction type | Collisions | Fatal | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M4 | Not at a junction | 8 | 0 | View on map |
| 2 | Western Avenue (A48) | T or staggered junction | 7 | 0 | View on map |
| 3 | North Road (A470) | T or staggered junction | 7 | 0 | View on map |
| 4 | Albany Road (A469) | Junction with more than four arms | 7 | 0 | View on map |
| 5 | Newport Road (A4161) | T or staggered junction | 6 | 0 | View on map |
| 6 | Newport Road (A4161) | Crossroads | 6 | 0 | View on map |
| 7 | Thornhill Road (A469) | Roundabout | 6 | 0 | View on map |
| 8 | Albany Road (A469) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 1 | View on map |
| 9 | Plas Dumfries (A4161) | Crossroads | 5 | 1 | View on map |
| 10 | Excelsior Road (A48) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 11 | Ffordd y Brenin (A4161) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 12 | Eastern Avenue (A48) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 13 | Clarence Road (A4119) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 14 | Heol y Castell (A4161) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 15 | Albany Road (A469) | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 16 | St Fagans Road | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 17 | Corbett Road | Crossroads | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 18 | City Road (B4261) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 19 | Corporation Road (A4119) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 20 | Western Avenue (A48) | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 21 | Heol Trelai | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 22 | Rover Way (A4232) | Roundabout | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 23 | Park Road (A4054) | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 24 | Northern Avenue (A470) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 25 | City Road (B4261) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
Roads and streets with the most collisions
Each collision is matched to the nearest named road. Long roads and busy town centres collect the most, so this list shows where collisions are recorded, not which streets are riskiest.
| Road or street | Collisions | Fatal | Serious (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport Road | 68 | 0 | 10 |
| Eastern Avenue | 51 | 1 | 7 |
| Cowbridge Road East | 30 | 1 | 6 |
| Cowbridge Road West | 27 | 0 | 7 |
| Western Avenue | 25 | 0 | 5 |
| City Road | 22 | 0 | 2 |
| Penarth Road | 21 | 0 | 2 |
| Albany Road | 20 | 1 | 5 |
| Leckwith Road | 15 | 0 | 3 |
| North Road | 15 | 0 | 4 |
| Northern Avenue | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| Caerphilly Road | 14 | 1 | 3 |
| Llantrisant Road | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| Southern Way | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| Rover Way | 11 | 0 | 3 |
Numbered roads with the most collisions
80% of collisions happened on roads with a 30 mph limit or lower (69% nationally), and 7% on roads with a 60 or 70 mph limit (18% nationally). 61% were at or within 20 metres of a junction or roundabout, higher than the national 54%.
| Road | Collisions | Fatal | Serious (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A48 | 114 | 1 | 21 |
| A4161 | 89 | 1 | 14 |
| A4232 | 88 | 0 | 18 |
| A4119 | 58 | 0 | 9 |
| A469 | 55 | 2 | 12 |
| A470 | 49 | 0 | 7 |
| M4 | 48 | 1 | 16 |
| A4160 | 34 | 0 | 7 |
| B4487 | 31 | 0 | 4 |
| B4261 | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| B4267 | 20 | 1 | 4 |
| A4054 | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| B4239 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| B4562 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| A4234 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Only numbered roads are listed here. Named streets are in the table above.
Conditions
30% of collisions in Cardiff happened in darkness, close to the 28% across Great Britain. 81% happened on roads classed as urban, higher than the national 67%.
Type of road
| Type of road | Collisions | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorway | 48 | 3.6% | 3.0% |
| A(M) road | 0 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| A road | 511 | 38.1% | 44.0% |
| B road | 98 | 7.3% | 12.5% |
| C road | 2 | 0.1% | 4.4% |
| Unclassified road | 683 | 50.9% | 35.9% |
Speed limit
| Speed limit | Collisions | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mph | 598 | 44.6% | 17.1% |
| 30 mph | 480 | 35.8% | 52.0% |
| 40 mph | 81 | 6.0% | 8.7% |
| 50 mph | 83 | 6.2% | 4.4% |
| 60 mph | 24 | 1.8% | 12.2% |
| 70 mph | 76 | 5.7% | 5.5% |
Junctions
| Junctions | Collisions | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not at a junction | 528 | 39.4% | 45.9% |
| T or staggered junction | 525 | 39.1% | 28.5% |
| Crossroads | 161 | 12.0% | 9.5% |
| Junction with more than four arms | 5 | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| Private drive or entrance | 5 | 0.4% | 2.2% |
| Other junction | 41 | 3.1% | 6.1% |
| Roundabout | 76 | 5.7% | 6.2% |
Light conditions
| Light conditions | Collisions | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight | 936 | 69.7% | 71.7% |
| Darkness, street lights lit | 349 | 26.0% | 20.6% |
| Darkness, street lights unlit | 12 | 0.9% | 0.7% |
| Darkness, no street lighting | 32 | 2.4% | 5.3% |
| Darkness, lighting unknown | 13 | 1.0% | 1.7% |
Urban or rural
| Urban or rural | Collisions | Share in Cardiff | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | 1,083 | 80.7% | 67.2% |
| Rural | 259 | 19.3% | 32.8% |
About these figures
Only collisions involving injury that were reported to the police are counted. The figures are not adjusted for traffic volume or population, so they should not be used to rank areas against each other. Serious and slight splits use the Department for Transport's severity adjustment. Full explanation.