It’s official: motorways are the safest type of road

Motorways have been named the safest routes in the UK, with the government’s latest statistics showing a drop in the number of fatalities across the entire road network over the past year.

According to the annual Road Casualty Report, there were 76 casualties (defined as including fatal, major and minor injuries) per billion miles travelled on Britain’s motorways in 2023 – down three per cent since 2022 and 45 per cent in the past decade.

The number of casualties on rural roads was also down by three per cent in the past year to 298 per billion miles, while the most dangerous type of roads, those in urban areas, also fell by four per cent to 719 casualties per billion miles in 2023.

In total there were 1,600 fatalities on UK roads in 2023 – a five per cent decline over the previous year. The number of casualties including those seriously injured has stayed roughly the same at 30,000 annually.

The statistics show a small decline in severity despite an increase in the number of cars on British roads, which has now risen to that of pre-pandemic levels. A total of 334 billion miles were driven on the UK’s roads in 2023, with five road fatalities per billion, making the UK the third-safest country out of the top 33 that publish such data.

IAM RoadSmart’s standards and policy director, Nick Lyes, said: “2023 was a year of high fuel prices, and evidence shows that people have been practising more eco-driving, which has potentially led to lower incidents of speeding on these roads.

“The biggest fall in fatalities appears to be among younger [people]. This could indicate that some of the messaging around young driver safety is starting to resonate. It may also be an indication that high insurance premiums are forcing younger people to be a little more cautious”.

Rod Dennis, the AA’s Head of Road Policy, added: “Any fatality on our roads is one too many,” as while the number of fatalities amongst young people appears to be falling, the total killed or seriously injured on the roads remains proportionally very high. 

The number of people injured when not wearing seatbelts is also slowly rising, with Dennis commenting that “more two fifths (46%) of drivers” feel that they can get away without wearing a seatbelt given the lack of visible policing on UK roads.

He continued to call for a meaningful road safety strategy, as well as more road traffic officers to help enforce the rules of the road. 

The Labour government is yet to publish any sort of directive in this regard, but during the election campaign the Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, promised to “maintain and renew [the] road network, to ensure it serves drivers, cyclists and other road users, remains safe, and tackles congestion.”

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