Revealed: The most dangerous areas to drive in England and Wales
Research has revealed that West Yorkshire is the UK’s most dangerous region to drive in.
The study by A-Plan Insurance divided England and Wales by police district and assessed the number of reported dangerous driving offences as a ratio of each district’s population.
There were 515,758 driving offences reported in England and Wales during 2020, of which 431,573 related to dangerous driving offences - which includes driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, use of a mobile device while driving and incidents causing death or injury.
West Yorkshire topped the list with a total of 34,862 dangerous driving offences reported, and a regional population of 2,332,500, which equates to one offence for every 67 people.
South Wales and Lincolnshire are also in the top three, with South Wales registering 19,707 offences across 1,339,400 citizens and Lincolnshire reporting 10,004 instances of dangerous driving over 761,200 residents.
UK’s Most Dangerous Areas To Drive
|
|
Dangerous Driving Offences |
Population (as of 2020) |
# people per offence |
Percentage of accidents to population |
Index Rank |
|
West Yorkshire |
34,862 |
2,332,500 |
67 |
1.49% |
1 |
|
South Wales |
19,707 |
1,339,400 |
68 |
1.47% |
2 |
|
Lincolnshire |
10,004 |
761,200 |
76 |
1.31% |
3 |
|
Sussex |
20,129 |
1,712,100 |
85 |
1.18% |
4 |
|
Avon & Somerset |
19,053 |
1,719,000 |
90 |
1.11% |
5 |
|
Gwent |
6,574 |
594,200 |
90 |
1.11% |
6 |
|
West Mercia |
14,222 |
1,291,600 |
91 |
1.10% |
7 |
|
North Wales |
7,279 |
699,600 |
96 |
1.04% |
8 |
|
Lancashire |
15,125 |
1,508,900 |
100 |
1.00% |
9 |
|
Dyfed-Powys |
5,045 |
519,700 |
103 |
0.97% |
10 |
Among the UK’s safest regions to drive, Wiltshire tops the list with just 2,611 dangerous driving offences reported among a population of 722,200 residents – equivalent to an offence for every 277 people. Also among the top 10 are Greater Manchester, Dorset and Hertfordshire.
The police statistics, drawn from the Department of Justice’s end of year report, indicate that 2,786 of last year’s driving offences were committed by children under the age of 17, with a further 18,462 offences committed by young adults aged 17-25. 488,000 offences were committed by adults, and 5,819 cases were attributed to “Companies, Public Bodies etc”.
Across genders, 379,951 offences were committed by men, while only 94,472 reports were made against women.
UK’s Safest Areas To Drive
|
|
Grand Total of Offences |
Population |
# people per offence |
Percentage of accidents to population |
Index Rank |
|
Wiltshire |
2,611 |
722,200 |
277 |
0.36% |
42 |
|
Surrey |
4,408 |
1,196,200 |
271 |
0.37% |
41 |
|
Greater Manchester |
11,365 |
2,835,700 |
250 |
0.40% |
40 |
|
Gloucestershire |
2,795 |
637,100 |
228 |
0.44% |
39 |
|
Dorset |
3,464 |
773,800 |
223 |
0.45% |
38 |
|
Hampshire |
9,133 |
1,991,700 |
218 |
0.46% |
37 |
|
Northumbria |
6,983 |
1,463,900 |
210 |
0.48% |
36 |
|
Derbyshire |
5,112 |
1,060,000 |
207 |
0.48% |
35 |
|
Hertfordshire |
5,782 |
1,189,500 |
206 |
0.49% |
34 |
|
Cleveland |
2,808 |
569,100 |
203 |
0.49% |
33 |
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Engineer Andy on 15 July 2021
The trouble is that surely these figures depend somewhat on the level of policing on the roads in these areas.Terry10 on 15 July 2021
So what happened to Devon and Cornwall yet again???Pug RCZ on 15 July 2021
Well they aren't in the top 10 or the bottom 10.
VINCENT MILLARD on 3 August 2021
They must be in the middle with Kent!
NickSLK on 15 July 2021
I don’t understand why South Wales is listed - an indeterminate area that could mean roughly half of Wales, and then Gwent, a specific county in, yes, South Wales.VINCENT MILLARD on 3 August 2021
Are they separate Policing Counties.?
De Sisti on 15 July 2021
What, no areas of London included in the results?uptodat on 15 July 2021
As already suggested, figures are reflective of police enforcement so you could argue more offences recorded indicates more roads police & a safer environment for law abiding motorists.Lee Arnold on 15 July 2021
There are many crashes on the Isle of Wight everydayaethelwulf on 15 July 2021
Do the police just not bother with London? Given it up as a bad job and let them get on and kill themselves/? Probably .Anyway. Were these offending drivers domiciled in those areas or people passing through?
Bare statistics very meaningless but we all notice ,I hope, that there are fewer police on the road as they rely on electronic devices.
One way to control the population and keep new salespeople happy.
Mr Nexus on 15 July 2021
I live in West Yorkshire, and I can think of many reasons for the stats. Not least places like Bradford, Dewsbury, Batley, etc, which have specific reasons for having a bad record!! Also, too many chavos and scazzers who have kids who are out of control. Will be leaving the area as soon as I possibly can.Andy MacGregor on 15 July 2021
This is rubbish.London is by far the most dangerous place to drive.
As someone who drives over 30000 miles a year all over the country - driving in London is noticeably a tense place to drive.
Boy racers all over the place and drivers all trying to race start at the lights.
I lived in London for years and was glad to get out!
on 15 July 2021
Why have you missed CUMBRIA, or is there nooffence record?Roderick1 on 16 July 2021
Some years ago I was told that Worthing (and other 'elephant's graveyard' towns) were the most dangerous places to drive in because of the poor vision and slow reactions of the aged driving population. For example, failing to stop at a crossroads because they hadn't seen you approaching was a common problem. Not so many boy racers, though.Frank Dowling on 16 July 2021
The report was on dangerous driving. While a proportion of elderly (and indeed, younger) people might be considered unfit to drive, they rarely drive dangerously, just carelessly. The accidents they cause are almost always so-called fender benders, nobody hurt.
Frank Dowling on 16 July 2021
The statistics mean little because they are entirely dependent on police officers actually taking action against dangerous drivers. I know of several instances of downright dangerous driving, caught on camera, which were reported to Kent Police, but because [by the grace of God] nobody was hurt, no action was taken.I personally witnessed one instance where a car drove at about 50 mph down a pavement past drive and garden path entrances, some of them with high bushes; if a child had walked out onto the pavement a fatality would have been guaranteed. Despite dashcam footage, the police said there was no point in prosecuting because nobody had been hurt !!!!!
De Sisti on 16 July 2021
Based on the comments above, I suppose one could question the quality of journalism that went into the article?Frank Dowling on 16 July 2021
I would suggest it is more the quality of information provided to the journalist(s).
on 16 July 2021
This does not surprise me. Having lived all my life in West Yorkshire I have seen how much the standard of driving has deteriated, It's these losers making my insurance so expensive, ban them all.conman on 17 July 2021
If you want to drive dangerously or have a bit of road rage come to Greater Manchester there are no Police.retiredspeedmerchant on 21 July 2021
Right, theres a seasonally higher volume of traffic in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire during the summer months due to tourism.Roads in East Linconshire are diabolical. Even most A roads are narrow and twisty. The area is desperate for decent dual carriageways. There are no decent roads to the coastal resorts. This causes considerable frustration getting stuck behind holidaymakers and day trippers dawdling along at well below the posted limits oblivious to the tailbacks they cause. Theres many poor and non existent signposting on the approach to bends and road cambers are poor too in places.
Odd that areas with lower figures generally have decent roads!
B Jenkins on 2 August 2021
Roads in Norfolk are at least as bad as Lincolnshire-the standard of driving could also
be the worst in the country. I agree areas with lower figures generally have relatively decent roads
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