Request ID: FOI-3193-2324 Date published: 03 January 2024
You asked
I am writing to request information regarding road traffic collisions that have taken place on Tower Bridge, London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge over the past 5 years (2018-2023).
I am interested in the number of vehicle collisions that involved either the temporary barriers that were installed at the edge of carriageway in 2019, or the parapets before these were installed. If possible could this please be categorised by vehicle type (including motorcycles or cycles) and if they resulted in serious injury or death. Could I please request how many times the barriers have had to be replaced due to vehicle collisions.
Could I also have the total number of road traffic collisions within this time frame as well, similarly categorised.
Could this data include 50m either side of the structures please. For Tower bridge could this also include the northern approach up to the junction with A1203.
Thank you
We answered
Our ref: FOI-3193-2324/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4 December 2023 asking for information about collisions on Thames bridges.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy. I can confirm that we do hold some of the information you require.
Please see the attached document providing information on personal injury collision numbers by severity for the bridge sites. This also shows the count of vehicles recorded by the police as involved in these collisions, as one collision may involve multiple vehicles, e.g. on London Bridge there are 19 collisions in total that involved 35 vehicles. We do not hold details of damage only collisions.
To identify collisions that involve a vehicle colliding with a barrier we have used police recorded fields to establish if a vehicle is shown as leaving the carriageway or hitting an object off the carriageway. By doing this we identified one collision involving slight injury to a car diver in 2020 and this occurred on the approach to Tower Bridge on the north side.
Data is from 2018 to July 2023 which is the latest processed information we have. All 2023 numbers are provisional and subject to change.
Barriers are only in place on Tower Bridge, and therefore we do not hold information relating to barriers on London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. Please see the attached spreadsheets for recorded defects on Tower Bridge.
Our reporting systems changed in 2021 and Pre- 2021 we were unable to extract specific PGR (pedestrian guard rail/barrier) defects that were reported and fixed at this location from 2019 –2021 so all maintenance records are included. There doesn’t appear to have been any incidences of barrier damage during this time. The third spreadsheet covers the period 2021 – 2023 and highlights all specific PGR defects.
Please let me know if this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
