England · Local authority E06000045

Driving around Southampton.

Understand the wider traffic picture, discuss local driving skills and find useful next steps.

Population and household transport

Explore the full local-area picture

Residents aged 17–24

42,857

Mid-2025 estimate. This is an age-group count, not the number of learners.

Households without a car or van

27.4%

Census 2021. Household vehicle availability does not establish access to a practice car.

Annual traffic

623

Million motor-vehicle miles during 2025.

A measure of travel across this authority area, not the number of vehicles, a road’s daily flow or current congestion. DfT asks that these figures be rounded to the nearest million miles.

Reported injury collisions

488

Police-reported personal-injury collisions during 2025.

0 fatal collisions. This counts collisions, not people killed. Damage-only incidents and unreported collisions are outside this dataset.

Traffic over time

Annual million vehicle miles, rounded. Authority boundaries can change.
YearAll motor vehiclesCars and taxis
2025 623 503
2024 617 496
2023 603 483
2022 595 473
2021 543 426
2020 502 392
2019 637 517
2018 648 527
2017 634 516
2016 627 508
2015 628 508
2014 621 504
2013 607 495
2012 607 496
2011 606 495

Road setting

Reported collisions by recorded setting, 2025
Setting Collisions
Single carriageway 437
Dual carriageway 31
Roundabout 17
One way street 3

Light conditions

Reported collisions by recorded setting, 2025
Setting Collisions
Daylight 318
Darkness - lights lit 150
Darkness - lighting unknown 14
Darkness - no lighting 5
Darkness - lights unlit 1
More collisions does not automatically mean greater risk.

Traffic exposure, area size, road mix and reporting vary. These are counts, not comparable collision rates. Ask your instructor to choose practice environments suited to your current ability and current conditions.

Plan useful practice

Work with a qualified supervisor and agree goals with your instructor.

Check today’s conditions

Official roadworks, travel and weather services.

Teach and reflect

Planning, CPD and tools for instructor development.

Community and travel context

Census 2021 gives a historical picture of Southampton. These figures can help you plan the support and practical questions to discuss with an instructor.

Residents reporting a disability

17.7%

Census definition; not driving fitness.

Employed residents commuting as car/van drivers

43.7%

Census 2021, during coronavirus restrictions.

Explore language, disability and commuting figures for Southampton

Sources and matching

Traffic: DfT road traffic downloads. Collisions: DfT STATS19 2025. We match the traffic authority code to the collision’s current highway-authority code; this does not assign an instructor or test centre to that area. Local traffic estimates are less robust than regional totals. Download the source metadata and full history.