Are you finding the roads are becoming a little more scary?

It may be the festival of all souls, but taking to the roads can be a worry any day of the year.

So it might be interesting to see how haunting an experience it is on your local roads compared to others around the country.

Beware the dangers

New research has revealed the UK’s most dangerous areas to drive outside London, with Blackpool coming out on top.

The study by Vignetteswitzerland.com analysed historical data from the Department for Transport.

These statistics reveal which areas of the UK had the highest average collisions per billion vehicle miles between 2018 and 2023.

The UK’s top ten most dangerous outside London

Rank Area Region Average collisions per billion vehicle miles (2018-2023)
1 Blackpool North West 976
2 Kingston upon Hull Yorkshire and The Humber 943
3 Isles of Scilly South West 936
4 Luton East of England 856
5 Brighton and Hove South East 851
6 Southampton South East 781
7 Reading South East 748
8 Blackburn with Darwen North West 734
9 Nottingham East Midlands 722
10 Liverpool North West 678

It’s all in the name

It found that the Blackpool area is statistically the UK’s most dangerous area to drive in outside London.

Between 2018 and 2023, this area had an average of 976 collisions per billion vehicle miles. 2021 had the highest number, with 1,090 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Hull comes in second, averaging 943 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Its most dangerous year was 2018, with just 1,051 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Third place goes to the Isles of Scilly area, which has had an average of 936 collisions per billion vehicle miles across the years recorded in the study.

These figures hit a high in 2023, with 2,199 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Car capital

Fourth place goes to Luton, with an average of 856 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Collisions were highest in 2018, making it the most dangerous year, with 969 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

Brighton and Hove rounds out the top five with 851 collisions per billion vehicle miles.

2021, with 891 collisions per billion vehicle miles, topped the league of danger years.

The average for all UK areas was 335 collisions per billion vehicle miles over the period studied.

The study also found that Moray, in Scotland, is statistically the safest area, with just 82 collisions per billion vehicle miles in the period studied.

Be prepared

Commenting on the findings, M.E. Wijnmalen, CEO of Vignetteswitzerland.com, said: “These findings highlight the importance of prioritising road safety measures, especially in areas with higher collision rates. While it’s not guaranteed to have a collision driving through any of these areas, you must prioritise your own safety on the road as much as anyone else’s. This is especially important with winter coming up, which is expected to change certain driving experiences across the UK drastically.”