Figures reveal over 4,500 crashes on roads in year
MORE than 100 people lost their lives on Welsh roads last year and thousands more were injured.
The latest figures from the Welsh Government show there were 4,556 crashes in 2017, which left 961 people with serious injuries and tragically took the lives of 103.
According to the Road Safety Foundation, Wales had the second highest rate of fatal and serious crashes per kilometre in Great Britain – and the risk rate in Wales was nearly double than the West Midlands, which is considered the safest region.
The A470, which stretches more than 186 miles and connects Cardiff to north Wales, saw the most car accidents – and deaths – in 2017.
Earlier this month, a stretch of the road near Abercynon was closed following a serious motorbike crash which left one man being taken to the University of Hospital Wales.
In October 2017, a driver died following a threevehicle crash on the road. Andrew James Griffiths, 35, from Merthyr Tydfil had been driving on the A470 near Storey Arms on Monday, October 2 when the incident took place. Three vehicles were involved, including a HGV and Mr Griffiths was pronounced dead at the scene.
Last year, seven people died on the A470.
The M4, which runs between London and Wales had the second highest number of accidents. In the 12-month window, there were 199 crashes and three deaths on the Welsh stretch of the road.
In November 2017, a man died after being “struck by a number of vehicles” on the M4 between junction 35 Pencoed and 36 Sarn.
According to the Road Safety Foundation, roads that see the most accidents aren’t necessarily the most dangerous.
The foundation said that last year, the most dangerous road in Wales was the A5026 from Lloc to Whelston in Holywell, Flintshire.
From 2013-15 there were eight fatal or serious crashes on the 6.3-mile road – 38% of which involved motorbikes.
In 2017, 12 people were injured in eight car accidents; one person was seriously injured and nobody lost their life.
The foundation mapped Welsh roads and categorised them by their risk which is calculated by comparing the frequency of road crashes resulting in death and serious injury with how much traffic each road carries.
They found the six high-risk and most dangerous roads in Wales are the A5026 from Lloc to Whelston, the A5 from Bangor to Corwen, the A5104 in Denbighshire, the A496 in Snowdonia, the A539, which is south of Wrexham, and the A4066 in Carmarthenshire.
Despite the M4 having 199 accidents in 2017, it’s actually considered one of the safest roads, with a low risk of incidents.
The A470 is categorised as a medium-risk road because of the amount of traffic that passes and the length of the road.