What are the Safest Roads in Britain?

Britain’s roads enjoy the enviable position of being among the safest in Europe thanks to a combination of improving standards of driving education, road safety measures and a high level of maintenance across the country’s road network.

But which roads are the safest of the safe? Everyone from house hunters to insurance companies want to know where the least likely places to be involved in an accident are. Without further ado, here is your guide to some of the safest roads in Britain.

Motorways are the safest type of road in Britain

Despite having the greatest speed limit of all of Britain’s roads, as well as the greatest amount of traffic at any given time, the motorways are actually the safest type of road in the country. Only 6% of road accidents in the UK occur on motorways, whereas urban roads account for 75% of all accidents despite only managing approximately 40% of the country’s traffic.

The logic behind those statistics makes sense when you consider that everyone driving on the motorway is travelling in the same direction at a similar speed. In addition, there are far fewer hazards to negotiate on the motorway then in a built-up urban area.

However, 2% of motorway crashes in the UK are fatal, compared with 1.4% of all crashes, thanks to the significantly higher speeds that the cars involved are likely to be travelling. When motorway accidents occur they have the most potential to be devastating but thankfully they are extremely rare, relatively speaking.

The M69 is statistically considered to be the safest motorway.

Harrow has the safest roads in London

The Department for Transport has recently announced that Harrow is the safest borough in London in terms of road accidents. With a casualty rate of 17.99 per 10,000 residents, compared to the City of London which has a casualty rate of 371.82 per 10,000, Harrow’s residents are 21 times less likely to be involved in an accident despite the mere 14 miles that separates the two areas.

The news was a massive boost to the community of Harrow, financially as well as psychologically. House hunters looking into buying property in London should take Harrow’s safety stats into account as car insurance from Hastings Direct and other providers can be significantly cheaper if you live in an area that is less accident prone.

Swindon has the safest roads in Britain

Where are you least likely to be involved in a road accident in Britain? It might surprise you that the Wiltshire town of Swindon holds that distinction. Surprisingly enough, the accolade came to Swindon shortly after the town council decided to get rid of its speed cameras in mid-2009.

Now Swindon roads suffer just two accidents per thousand registered vehicles on it roads. This is the lowest rate in Britain, compared with the shocking 90.9 per thousand registered vehicles suffering accidents in the City of London.

Swindon maintains mobile cameras used by police instead of fixed ones, raising interesting questions about traffic calming measures in other areas of the UK.