Every road accident in London over past 10 years revealed on new interactive map
A unique interactive map which shows the location and severity of road collisions over the past decade was so popular that it crashed soon after launch.
Transport for London's London Collision Map, which uses extensive data, collected by the Police and held by TfL, to "shine a light" on road collisions in local areas, was released on Monday but within a few hours had closed because of sheer volume of visitors.
TfL said they would be providing extra capacity to ensure visitors could access the tool.
Users to the Collision Map can click on a specific area to discover when and when any crash between 2005 and 2014 took place as well as finding out if they were minor, serious or even fatal. Clicking on the symbols will also provide a brief overview of a specific crash.
Further filters allow users to search different categories of accidents and whether they involved pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses or goods vehicles.
TfL said the purpose of the map was to raise awareness of road safety and to show road users areas of potential danger as well as encourage them to take extra care.
Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said the tool will help to make "significant improvements" in road safety.
"Alongside major modernisation work at junctions, effective enforcement by the Police and action to make lorries safer, this is one of many measures we are taking to further reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads,” he said.
TfL already uses collision data to identify areas where additional road safety improvements are required, working with the police to increase the amount of data it has access to.
By combining it with traffic flow data, traffic counts and bus information, TfL can identify locations where more targeted enforcement and additional engagement with local communities can be made to improve safety.
The Collision Map follows TfL's annual Safety Report which showed that in the last 12 months, the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) fell to its lowest level since records began.
The report also outlines the Mayor’s new target, set earlier this year, to halve the number of KSIs by 2020 compared to the Government base line – meaning a reduction of more than 14,000 deaths or serious injuries over the life of London's road safety plan to 2020.
Isabel Dedring, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said that although road safety had improved, City Hall was not "complacent".
"It is a top priority and that’s why the Mayor set a new target to bring down the number of people killed or seriously injured even further. This map is part and parcel of our drive to improve road safety awareness and complements ongoing work to overhaul and improve London’s key roads and junctions.”