Northumberland's crash hotspots revealed by new data

The Hexham Courant submitted an FOI to Northumbria Police to reveal the number of collisions on Northumberland roads in the last year and how many were classed as "serious", relating to injuries sustained.

We sought information relating to Northumberland County Council roads A68, A695, A696, B6318 and National Highways' A69.

The A695, which runs from Hexham to Newcastle, had the most collisions at 18, while five of those were serious.

The Otterburn to Newcastle road, the A696, had 16 incidents, nine being classed as serious.

The wreckage of a Land Rover on the A69 in Corbridge in 2016 (Image: Northumbria Police)

The A69 had 15 crashes, six of which were serious. 

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “As a force, we are committed to making our roads as safe as possible for all road users.

“We have specialist teams who, along with partners, run dedicated operations throughout the year to raise awareness of the importance of road safety and the responsibility we all have to achieve that.

“This includes the current Fatal Four campaign, which is running this month, to highlight the contributing factors which can often be the cause of serious collisions on our roads.

The scene of a crash on the A69 between Hexham and Haydon Bridge in 2017 (Image: Northumbria Police)

“The aim is to raise awareness of fatal four offences which are speeding, drink and drug-driving, driving while distracted and non-wearing of seat-belts, as well as influence driver attitudes and hopefully instil new beliefs and values.

“While the overwhelming majority who use our region’s roads do so in a safe and considerate manner, the careless or dangerous actions of a minority can lead to injury or fatality – and we will continue to pursue effective justice against those individuals.

“We also rely on the public to continue working with us to help make our roads as safe as they possibly can be.

“If you have concerns about another road user, or witness someone driving in a dangerous or careless manner, please report it to us."

Drivers can submit footage via the ‘Submit your dashcam footage’ page on Northumbria Police's website.

READ MORE: Potholes appearing 'all the time' on A68 and A695 as councillors raise concerns

National Highways project manager Michael Morgan said: “Safety is our top priority, and we routinely review the operation of our motorways and major A roads to ensure they are operating as safely as possible.

“The A69 is a vital Trans-Pennine link between the north-east and Cumbria. We carry out regular safety reviews and data-gathering exercises, and liaise with stakeholders including local authorities, police, residents, and customers who use this route.

“This approach allows us to fully understand the demands of the road so that we can target safety improvement schemes where they are needed, which helped us to deliver the recent grade-separated junction scheme at the A69/A6079 (Bridge End), as well as the installation of average speed cameras systems across two locations on the A69. 

“In recent years we’ve also installed new LED street lighting across the A69 at West Denton, Acomb and Bridgend, which are more carbon friendly and offer a better level of illumination at night."

He added National Highways will "continue to constantly review the performance of our road network".

Northumberland County Councillor John Riddle, cabinet member with responsibility for Improving our Roads and Highways, said: “County council highways officers constantly work with the police, fire service and other partners to reduce road collision casualties across the county council's road highway network through a combination of enforcement, education and engineering measures.  

“The council’s key roles to support road casualty reductions are around the education and engineering measures. 

“We regularly review road casualty data provided by the police to identify causes and to assess if there are any particular accident hotspots which can be improved.  

 “Analysis has generally found that the majority of accidents happen as a result of driver error rather than the layout of the road itself, but where road safety improvements can be made, and the casualty data supports interventions, the county council will continue to take action through its road safety programmes.” 

“We carry out a wide variety of engineering interventions to improve road safety on an annual basis through our Local Transport Plan capital programme and in 2024/25 have allocated over £2m for road safety improvements.”