Just Stop Oil protesters block road in Shoreditch

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Road safety in the UK is among the best in the world, yet some regions are prone to far more fatal accidents than others. As overall traffic fell during the pandemic, so did the number of collisions – but these have begun to creep back up over the past year. According to the Department for Transport (DfT), a total of 1,558 people died on roads in Britain in 2021, over three-quarters of which were men.

During 2019, the year before the pandemic, there were 117,536 collisions in Great Britain, resulting in a total of 1,658 fatal accidents, according to the DfT’s latest road casualty report.

In 2020, pandemic restrictions on movement saw a considerable reduction in road traffic – the total amount of miles travelled by motor vehicles falling by over 27 percent. 

As a result of quieter roads, the number of collisions fell by 22 percent, but there were 267 more fatalities – likely due to the increased rate of pedal cyclist fatalities recorded as more people took to their bikes on rural roads.

In 2021, as lockdown restrictions eased and traffic levels crept back up 11.9 percent – remaining 12.1 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels – collisions saw an uptick in turn. 

A total of 101,087 incidents were reported on Great Britain’s roads last year, 11 percent more than in 2020 but a drop of 14 percent from 2019. Last year’s figures include 1,474 collisions that resulted in at least one death.

When considering severe traffic accidents involving casualties, there were 1,558 reported road deaths in 2021 – 98 more than the previous year, but 194 fewer than in the year before the pandemic.

More than three times as many men (1,211) were killed in road accidents in 2021 than women (347).

Looking at the fatality rate in terms of the number of miles collectively driven by motorists, that equates to around five fatalities per billion miles driven in Britain. By this metric, the 2021 figure is one percent higher than 2019’s but four percent lower than in 2020.

A spokesperson for the DfT said: “The number of road deaths has decreased by 11 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels, however, we are not complacent, and continue working tirelessly to improve road safety.

“Every death or serious injury on our roads is a tragedy and we recently announced we will create a Road Safety Investigation Branch to look closely at what needs to change to save lives.”

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According to the DfT data, the Orkney Islands in Scotland saw more fatalities per billion vehicle miles travelled than any other local authority in the UK in 2021, with a rate of 23.88.

This figure is considerably higher than second-placed Tameside in the North West at 17.04. Then comes Argyll & Bute in Scotland at 16.75, Slough at 15.11 and Gwynedd in Wales at 14.64.

In regional terms, the roads of Yorkshire and the Humber saw the most fatal traffic accidents per mile last year, posting a rate of 6.21. The North West came second on 5.78, followed by the East Midlands on 5.75.

Looking at the sheer number of fatalities, the South East recorded more than any other region in the UK in 2021 at 235. More people died on the roads of Kent than anywhere else in the country last year, 52, followed by Lincolnshire on 40 and Essex on 36.

RAC road safety spokesperson Simon Williams said: “While the overall number of road deaths is down on pre-pandemic levels, the fatality rate per billion miles driven has increased suggesting little progress is being made in making our roads safer. 

“We urge the government to publish its updated road safety plan which focuses on both improving car safety – including mandating technology such as intelligent speed assist in new cars – as well as measures to tackle poor driving standards and illegal behaviour behind the wheel.”

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Following a public consultation that generated over 20,000 responses, the Government implemented revisions to the Highway Code in January this year in a bid to make roads safer.

The new Code notably included a “hierarchy of road users” to ensure quicker or heavier modes of travel have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they may pose. Pedestrains were top of the list, followed by cyclists and horse riders, with motorcyclists being the first motorised vehicles in the rankings.

However, a recent survey by Age Co found that, despite almost annual updates, 52 percent of drivers have either never read the Highway Code, have not read it since they passed their test, or can’t remember it at all.

In what the insurer called a “concerning result”, Age Co said only 22 percent of drivers over the age of 50 have read the Highway Code since it was last revised in January 2022.

Despite these findings, internationally Great Britain retains its longstanding reputation for having some of the safest roads in the world.

In 2021, Great Britain had the fifth lowest rate of road fatalities per million people among European countries with over one million inhabitants, at 23.9 – behind only Norway (14.8), Sweden (19.3)  and Denmark (22.2) and Switzerland (23). 

According to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), Romania saw the most road deaths, with a rate of 93 per million. Although this makes Romanian roads almost four times more dangerous than those in the UK, this figure is still far below the 129.3 fatalities per million recorded across the Atlantic in the US.

However, the ETSC’s latest Performance Index shows the rate of fatality reduction over time in Great Britain to be lagging behind that of the European Union (EU). Road deaths fell by 31 percent across the EU between 2011 and 2021, doing so by just 18 percent in Britain.

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