New crash index reveals Scotland leads the way in road safety improvements

A new online resource has been launched to let motorists check the safety record of roads in their area.

The interactive Road Crash Index has been launched by charity the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) and insurer Ageas to support the RSF’S annual report mapping the risk of death and serious injury on Britain’s roads.

According to the report, half of all Britain’s road deaths are concentrated on just 10 per cent of the road network – the motorways and A roads beyond urban limits. Government figures showed that 2016 saw road deaths increase by four per cent to a five-year high, with 1,792 people killed.

This year’s RSF report has identified more than 550 sections of road classed as black or red, meaning they pose an “unacceptably high risk” to users. In total they cover less than 4,000 miles of road.

The new index reveals that Dunbartonshire is the country’s highest ranked county, with a 32 per cent reduction in fatal and serious crashes between 2010-12 and 2013-15. South Glamorgan is the lowest ranked of the 78 counties, with a 27 per cent increase in fatal and serious incidents over the same period.

Seven of the ten highestranked areas were in Scotland.

The index allows users to search data by region and ranks them based on improvement. It also shows the cost of road crashes in each county and the cost per head of population, together with risk maps for each county and any improved or persistently higher risk roads.

Launching the index, Ageas chief executive Andy Watson, said: “Every day, Ageas deals with customers who have been involved in road crashes, and our employees support them through what can be a very distressing time. We want to help bring the number of road crashes towards zero.

“Simply using the Road Crash Index you can see how your county ranks in Britain and the cost of road crashes locally. We urge you to take a look and use it to encourage your MP to support our call for road improvement programmes.”