Scottish area named deadliest crash hotspot in UK

A SCOTTISH area has been named the deadliest car crash hotspot in the UK after casualties reached a record level last year across Britain.

The areas with the highest number of smashes have been revealed after the latest Government figures revealed there were almost 3,000 collisions up and down the country in 2023.

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A total of five Scottish areas made the list of top 20 worst spots[/caption]

The incidents caused a total of 143 deaths, as well as causing a further 4,000 injuries.

And it has caused motoring organisations to call for more radical measures to improve road safety.

Experts at AA have urged the government to implement steps like graduated driving licences, which would drivers given age-dependent restrictions based on the perceived risk of younger drivers.

Now, experts at Agilysis have unveiled what parts of the country see the worst excesses of the tragic problem.

The team used data from the Department for Transport to find out the number of fatal smashes between 2021 and 2023 in each area.

They then compared this with the number of miles the average driver in each area covered.

Nearly 5,000 people were killed on Britain’s roads… with drivers generating more risk of death to other road users than they posed to themselves

Bruce Walton technical director at Agilysis

This was used to generate a rate of deadly crashes for every billion miles travelled.

And it found that the Orkney Islands off the Scottish coast were the worst by far using this metric.

Five fatal collisions were recorded on the islands for just 261 million miles covered.

This resulted in a total of 19.142 deaths per billion miles, which is almost 300 per cent more than the national average.

Argyll and Bute also ranked high on the list, coming in second with 26 fatal crashes and a total of 15.157 deaths per billion miles.

This is 214 per cent higher than the national average.

The top three was finished off with Lambeth in South London with a score of 12.579.

However, the experts said that London would likely have topped the list if it wasn’t broken down into individual local authority areas in government figures.

That being said, other major cities didn’t necessarily factor in, with none of Birmingham, Greater Manchester or Liverpool cracking the top 20 despite their massive driving populations.

London did, though, see the joint highest representation with six of its areas in the top 20.

Other Scottish locations to make the list were the Highlands, Scottish Borders and North Ayrshire.

The Highlands saw a total of 51 fatal smashes with a score of 9.415 which is 95 per cent higher than the national rate.

While the Scottish Borders had a score of 9.172 after recording 21 fatal crashes – which was 90 per cent higher than the national average.

Full list of UK’s car crash hotspots

1. Orkney Islands – 5 fatal collisions, 261m of total traffic, 19.142 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 296 compared to national rate
2. Argyll & Bute – 26 fatal collisions, 1715m of total traffic, 15.157 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 214 compared to national rate
3. Lambeth – 17 fatal collisions, 1352m of total traffic, 12.579 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 160 compared to national rate
4. Kensington and Chelsea – 11 fatal collisions, 901m of total traffic, 12.215 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 153 compared to national rate
5. Blackpool – 11 fatal collisions, 948m of total traffic, 11.608 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 140 compared to national rate
6. Isle of Wight – 13 fatal collisions, 1147m of total traffic, 11.335 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 135 compared to national rate
7. Camden – 9 fatal collisions, 821m of total traffic, 10.965 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 127 compared to national rate
8. Caerphilly – 23 fatal collisions, 2120m of total traffic, 10.851 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 125 compared to national rate
9. Gwynedd – 26 fatal collisions, 2432m of total traffic, 10.69 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 121 compared to national rate
10. Tameside – 23 fatal collisions, 2201m of total traffic, 10.449 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 116 compared to national rate
11. Lincolnshire – 127 fatal collisions, 12362m of total traffic, 10.274 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 113 compared to national rate
12. Powys – 29 fatal collisions, 2893m of total traffic, 10.024 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 108 compared to national rate
13. Highland – 51 fatal collisions, 5417m of total traffic, 9.415 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 95 compared to national rate
14. Scottish borders – 21 fatal collisions, 2290m of total traffic, 9.172 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 90 compared to national rate
15. North Ayrshire – 13 fatal collisions, 1425m of total traffic, 9.121 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 89 compared to national rate
16. Kingston upon Hull – 19 fatal collisions, 2155m of total traffic, 8.816 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 83 compared to national rate
17. City of London – 2 fatal collisions, 229m of total traffic, 8.741 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 81 compared to national rate
18. Haringey – 8 fatal collisions, 952m of total traffic, 8.408 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 74 compared to national rate
19. Westminster – 11 fatal collisions, 1324m of total traffic, 8.311 fatal collisions per billion motor vehicle miles travelled, 72 compared to national rate

North Ayrshire recorded 13 fatal collisions and had a score of 9.121 which sits higher than the national rate by 89 per cent.

Bruce Walton, technical director at Agilysis, told SunMotors: “Nearly 5,000 people were killed on Britain’s roads over the three years to 2023, with drivers generating more risk of death to other road users than they posed to themselves.

“While 35 per cent of fatalities were drivers, 15 per cent were their passengers and 23 per cent were pedestrians they hit.

“Nearly 20 per cent of deaths were motorcycle users, and a further 6 per cent were pedal cyclists.

“E-scooter use led to at least 28 deaths.”

You can find more details on individual crashes in your area on Agilysis’ CrashMap site.