Sharp rise in serious collisions on A23 in Streatham

UPDATE: public consultation delayed by general election will now start 6th Jan.

London Assembly Member Caroline Russell has won assurance from Transport for London that a consultation on plans to redesign the A23 at Streatham Hill will go ahead the second week of November. The news comes as latest statistics from TfL reveal that the number traffic collisions resulting in serious injuries on Streatham Hill and Streatham High Road have risen sharply in a year. 

 

Provisional stats for 2018 show there were 212 collisions on the A23 between its junction with the South Circular and the border with the borough of Croydon, including 19 resulting in life-changing injuries, up from 133 collisions, 13 of which were serious, the previous year.

Local residents who have been campaigning for safety improvements since 2015 have won a commitment from TfL to spend £8.6m on a redesign of the A23 at Streatham Hill, where the ‘current’ motorway feel of the road encourages drivers to speed up. Green Party Assembly Member Caroline Russell has now been told that a public consultation on plans to change the design to one more suited to a town centre, initially promised for early 2019, will now go begin in the second week of November. 

Local Green Party councillor and Safer A23 campaigner Nicole Griffiths said: "These latest statistics demonstrate what all of us living in Streatham know - that it's a killer road, dividing our community and steps to make it safer for local residents and road users are long overdue." 

Statistics for collisions on A23 between South Circular and borough with Croydon

	Total collisions	Serious injury	Death
2018	212	19	0
2017	133	13	0
2016	126	10	0
2015	134	11	2
2014	101	9	3
2013	90	8	0
2012	79	7	2
2011	95	3	1

Five-year averages

	Total collisions	Serious injury	Death
2014 – 2018	706	63	5
2013 – 2017	584	51	5
2012 – 2016	530	45	7
2011 – 2015	499	38	8

Source: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/safety-and-security/road-safety/london-collision-map

Note, from September 2016 onwards, the police have used a new method of recording injuries and figures for serious and slight injuries are not directly comparable with previous years (severity of injuries is thought to have been under-recorded in the past).