Accidents to Pedestrians During June July & August 1946

Plotting pedestrian accidents in postwar London.

This map shows the area served in Greater London by the Metropolitan Police District. As noted it the title, it plots the locations of accidents to pedestrians from June to August of 1946 in red over an Ordnance Survey base map. Most of these likely involved motorized vehicles.

Clusters of accident sites can be seen around popular railway stations like Victoria, Paddington and Hammersmith. Particularly dangerous roadways, like the Holyhead Trunk Road and Brixton Road, can also be identified with a nearly continuous line of incidents.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that literally thousands of people were dying on Britain’s roads each year during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Average annual fatalities ranged from 6,000 to 9,000, with those injured often exceeding 200,000 across the country. According to contemporary research, the numbers were likely even higher than that, as many accidents did not involve a police report. Children were disproportionately affected, and legislation introduced in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s led to stricter speed limits, better pedestrian walkways, and “safe play” streets that were closed to traffic during certain hours.

References

GLANVILLE, W. H. “ROAD SAFETY AND ROAD RESEARCH.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 99, no. 4838, 1951, pp. 144–192. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41365089. Accessed 10 Apr. 2020.