According to IAM’s analysis of recent data produced by the Department for Transport, figures for 2012 show that the rate of reported killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties in the North East has increased by 8% since 2011, an extra 65 KSI incidents.

The South East, which was one of the worst regions for road safety last year, has made the biggest improvement with an eight% decrease in 2011/2012. This follows a 10% increase 2010/2011.  However, London did see an increase of 217 in the number of killed and serious injured accidents in 2012.

The South West saw a 6% increase in accident rates for the most serious crashes with 127 additional killed or serious injured accidents. 

There are reductions in the North West, South East, and West Midlands, cancelling out small increases in Yorkshire and Humber, East of England and London, giving an overall reduction of two% in accident rates for England.

A 2% increase has pushed Yorkshire and Humberside to the top of the accident rate table.  Per head of population you are more likely to be killed or injured in Yorkshire and Humberside than anywhere else in England.

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.’