Home / All areas / North Devon
Road collisions in North Devon
Police recorded 873 road collisions involving injury in North Devon between 2021 and 2025, about 175 a year. 12 of them were fatal, and an estimated 173 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
Want to see collisions near a particular address in North Devon? Search by postcode
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). Saturday had the most collisions, and 26% happened at weekends.
Trend over time
Reported collisions went from 203 in 2021 to 159 in 2025, a fall of 22%. Counts are affected by traffic levels, population and changes in how police record injuries, so North Devon should not be ranked against other areas on these numbers alone.
Who is affected
Across North Devon, 1,198 people were injured or killed in these collisions. Pedestrians were 7% of casualties (14% across Great Britain), pedal cyclists 6% (12%) and motorcyclists 10% (12%). Car and taxi occupants made up 69%. 2 of the pedestrians were killed.
Children aged 0 to 15 were 9% of casualties, close to the 9% national share. People aged 16 to 25 were 24% (21% nationally), and people over 65 were 12% (10% nationally).
| Road user | Casualties | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrians | 89 | 7.4% | 14.5% |
| Pedal cyclists | 66 | 5.5% | 11.9% |
| Motorcyclists | 122 | 10.2% | 12.4% |
| Car and taxi occupants | 821 | 68.5% | 54.4% |
| Bus and minibus occupants | 10 | 0.8% | 1.8% |
| Van and goods vehicle occupants | 75 | 6.3% | 3.5% |
| Other road users | 15 | 1.3% | 1.6% |
Casualties by age
| Age | Casualties | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | 21 | 1.8% | 1.6% |
| 6 to 10 | 31 | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| 11 to 15 | 51 | 4.3% | 4.8% |
| 16 to 20 | 168 | 14.2% | 10.6% |
| 21 to 25 | 119 | 10.1% | 11.0% |
| 26 to 35 | 190 | 16.0% | 20.8% |
| 36 to 45 | 141 | 11.9% | 15.8% |
| 46 to 55 | 158 | 13.3% | 12.8% |
| 56 to 65 | 165 | 13.9% | 10.1% |
| 66 to 75 | 82 | 6.9% | 5.3% |
| Over 75 | 58 | 4.9% | 4.5% |
Vehicles involved
9.7% of collisions involved a pedestrian casualty (17.7% nationally), 7.3% a cyclist (15.0%) and 13.4% a motorcyclist (15.3%). 2.5% involved a goods vehicle (3.9% nationally) and 28.8% involved a driver aged 17 to 24 (21.1%). 3 collisions involved an e-scooter.
| Vehicle | Vehicles | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars and taxis | 1,113 | 73.5% | 69.7% |
| Vans (up to 3.5 tonnes) | 143 | 9.4% | 6.4% |
| Heavy goods vehicles | 23 | 1.5% | 2.3% |
| Motorcycles | 122 | 8.1% | 9.3% |
| Pedal cycles | 67 | 4.4% | 8.7% |
| Buses and minibuses | 12 | 0.8% | 1.8% |
| Other vehicles | 34 | 2.2% | 1.8% |
Collision hotspots in North Devon
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 | Bear Street (A39) | Crossroads | 8 | 0 | View on map |
| 2 | A361 | Not at a junction | 6 | 0 | View on map |
| 3 | A3125 | Roundabout | 6 | 0 | View on map |
| 4 | Alexandra Road (A39) | Roundabout | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 5 | Old Bideford Road (A3125) | Roundabout | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 6 | Bishop's Tawton Road (A361) | Roundabout | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 7 | B3226 | T or staggered junction | 5 | 0 | View on map |
| 8 | West Street (B3227) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 9 | B3230 | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 10 | North Road (A39) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 11 | Exeter Road (A361) | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 12 | Unnamed road | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 13 | A3123 | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 14 | Bear Street | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 15 | The Square (A3125) | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 16 | North Road (A39) | Not at a junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 17 | Shirwell Road (A39) | T or staggered junction | 4 | 0 | View on map |
| 18 | The Square (A3125) | 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.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Road | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Long Lane | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Exeter Road | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Shirwell Road | 11 | 0 | 4 |
| Bickington Road | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| North Road | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Bear Street | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Belle Meadow Road | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| High Street | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Old Bideford Road | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Saunton Road | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Eastern Avenue | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Bishop's Tawton Road | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| New Barnstaple Road | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Mill Hill | 6 | 0 | 2 |
Numbered roads with the most collisions
41% of collisions happened on roads with a 30 mph limit or lower (69% nationally), and 49% on roads with a 60 or 70 mph limit (18% nationally). 37% were at or within 20 metres of a junction or roundabout, lower than the national 54%.
| Road | Collisions | Fatal | Serious (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A361 | 167 | 3 | 35 |
| A39 | 108 | 2 | 18 |
| A399 | 63 | 0 | 18 |
| B3230 | 41 | 1 | 10 |
| A3125 | 39 | 1 | 6 |
| B3227 | 29 | 0 | 9 |
| A377 | 24 | 1 | 2 |
| B3233 | 22 | 0 | 7 |
| A3123 | 18 | 0 | 6 |
| B3226 | 18 | 0 | 4 |
| B3343 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| B3232 | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| B3231 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| B3137 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| B3138 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Only numbered roads are listed here. Named streets are in the table above.
Conditions
26% of collisions in North Devon happened in darkness, close to the 28% across Great Britain. 24% happened on roads classed as urban, lower than the national 67%.
Type of road
| Type of road | Collisions | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motorway | 0 | 0.0% | 3.0% |
| A(M) road | 0 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| A road | 419 | 48.0% | 44.0% |
| B road | 167 | 19.1% | 12.5% |
| C road | 2 | 0.2% | 4.4% |
| Unclassified road | 285 | 32.6% | 35.9% |
Speed limit
| Speed limit | Collisions | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mph | 8 | 0.9% | 17.1% |
| 30 mph | 354 | 40.5% | 52.0% |
| 40 mph | 60 | 6.9% | 8.7% |
| 50 mph | 21 | 2.4% | 4.4% |
| 60 mph | 430 | 49.3% | 12.2% |
| 70 mph | 0 | 0.0% | 5.5% |
Junctions
| Junctions | Collisions | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not at a junction | 549 | 63.1% | 45.9% |
| T or staggered junction | 178 | 20.5% | 28.5% |
| Crossroads | 41 | 4.7% | 9.5% |
| Junction with more than four arms | 4 | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Private drive or entrance | 10 | 1.1% | 2.2% |
| Other junction | 33 | 3.8% | 6.1% |
| Roundabout | 55 | 6.3% | 6.2% |
Light conditions
| Light conditions | Collisions | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight | 643 | 73.7% | 71.7% |
| Darkness, street lights lit | 83 | 9.5% | 20.6% |
| Darkness, street lights unlit | 4 | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| Darkness, no street lighting | 128 | 14.7% | 5.3% |
| Darkness, lighting unknown | 15 | 1.7% | 1.7% |
Urban or rural
| Urban or rural | Collisions | Share in North Devon | Share across GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | 212 | 24.3% | 67.2% |
| Rural | 661 | 75.7% | 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.