Number Of Road Accidents In NE England Increases

The number of road accidents in North East England in 2012 increased by around eight per cent in 12 months.

New statistics released by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) show that driving is becoming more dangerous in the region, with 2012 seeing an extra 65 incidents where people were killed or seriously injured (KSI).

Despite this, the number of KSI accidents in the North East remains substantially lower than in many other areas of the country.

The region has the second lowest number of these types of incidents (353 per million population) in all of England, just behind the West Midlands (342).

The three areas with the worst records on safety were Yorkshire and the Humber (458), East Midlands (454) and the South East (453).

Despite the struggles South East England still faces in road safety - specifically with cycling accidents in inner-city areas - the region achieved the biggest improvement and the number of KSIs decreased by eight per cent over the year before.

London fared relatively well and maintains the third lowest level of KSIs per million people of any part of England.

This is thought to be due in part to an increased usage of public transport and heavier levels of traffic that, ironically, prevent more serious accidents from happening because motorists cannot build up as much speed.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: "Drivers across England should not be at higher risk just because of where they live. Additional funding should be available to those areas with greater road safety problems.

"What we need is a national road safety body with full responsibility for monitoring progress and bringing together best practice so that that everyone benefits equally from safer roads."

The Department of Transport is currently in charge of road safety efforts and government ministers have spent millions of pounds in attempts to reduce KSI levels on roads across the UK.

Expert Opinion

It is worrying to see both this increase in the North East and the high number of incidents which continue to occur in other regions across the UK too. <br/> <br/>"The IAM figures have made it clear that there remains much work to be done to improve road safety comprehensively. <br/> <br/>"I agree with Mr Best’s comments – drivers should not face a postcode lottery of sorts when it comes to safety, with standards depending on where they live. The aim has to be to make improvements across the board and ensure reductions are seen in the number of incidents." Neil Whiteley - Partner