Which County Has The Most Road Accidents?

Stats from the Department for Transport reveal the types of roads, speeds and junctions with the most accidents.

Which type of road is the most dangerous? At what speed are you most likely to have an accident? Do more crashes happen in non-built up areas?

Thanks to data from the Department for Transport, these are questions that are no longer unanswered. A new study by Moneybarn has highlighted several important and interesting points to take away from data on road traffic statistics and the road accidents reported in 2019.

Kent had the most road accidents in 2019

As one of the most heavily populated counties in the UK, it comes as no surprise that Kent landed the top spot for road traffic accidents in 2019. With 3,619 accidents reported, Kent topped the list even though these stats exclude Medway towns such as Gillingham and Rochester. Following Kent, Surrey was in second place with 2,964 accidents reported and in third place, the City of Birmingham with 2,623 accidents.

Which type of road do most accidents take place on?

Although some may assume that high-speed roads such as motorways would be the most accident-inducing, those in the know already are aware this is far from the case. A roads proved to be the most dangerous with around 44.5% of all accidents occurring on them in 2019. 12.4% of accidents occurred on B roads and only 3.2% of accidents occurred on motorways, with 34% happening on unclassified roads.

A whopping 72.6% of accidents happened on single carriageway roads

Only 15.8% of accidents occurred on dual carriageway roads such as motorways and some A roads, potentially suggesting that they’re safer in their design.

More accidents happen in built-up areas

Where some may think that more dangerous driving occurs in rural areas, where reckless drivers feel more comfortable putting their foot down on the accelerator, the data suggests that most accidents still happen in built-up areas. 77.4% of accidents occurred on a built-up road in 2019 with non-built-up roads making up only 19% of accidents.

When accidents happen, are people driving fast or slow?

The answer is mostly slow. 58.9% of accidents happened at a speed range of 21-30mph and the next highest range was 51-60mph, making up 12.3% of accidents in 2019.

Let us know if these stats confirmed what you already believed true, in the comments.

If you found this interesting, you may also like: ‘Is Car Software More Appealing Than Performance and Style?’

Graphics courtesy of moneybarn.com