Key Findings
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London Is The Worst Region For Accidents During Poor Weather Conditions.
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South East Ranked Worst Region For Snow/Ice-Related Accidents.
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North East Ranked Safest Region With Least Amount Of Accidents During Poor Weather Conditions.
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Lancashire is the Nation’s diciest region with 36 accidents last year, with Devon (34) and Lincolnshire (33) in 2nd and 3rd. All have more than the entirety of Wales (27).
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There is nearly 6 times the number of accidents that occur in snow/ice conditions in England (778) compared to Scotland and Wales combined (136).
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Glasgow has nearly twice (186%) the number of poor weather accidents compared to Edinburgh.
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Carmarthenshire has the most accidents in Wales with the nation’s capital, Cardiff, in 2nd place.
Britain has now well and truly transitioned from the long, warm and sunny months into the short, dark, wet and icy months, and here at Leasing Options, we thought it was the right time to raise some awareness around the dangers of driving during winter, to make sure Britain’s motorists are prepared for what they’ll be facing, as well as some of the areas in the nation where accidents are at their highest.
Power-sliding Into Christmas
The weather has now changed dramatically and so have our roads. Not only do we have less light during the day, decreasing our visibility, but ice and snow now cause our cars to slip and slide if we’re not properly prepared.
Did you know that when roads are wet, a car’s stopping time more than doubles?
Did you know that when roads are covered in snow and ice, a car’s stopping time is 10x longer than when driving on a dry road?
The changes are so large when driving on icy or snowy roads that we decided to put together a little game you can play to help visualise the impact of the winter months more clearly. The aim of the game is very simple. Avoid the other cars and brake before the roadblock. Sounds easy, right? You may think so early on, but you’ll soon discover that once the road is slippy and your visibility is hampered, things become a lot tougher.
Have a go for yourself here.
Britain’s Worst Places For Poor Weather Accidents
In comparison to other countries around the world, Britain is relatively small, so you’d assume that regions are all pretty even when it comes to dealing with poor weather conditions, right? Apparently not.
London Is The Worst Region For Accidents During Poor Weather Conditions.
We were surprised to see London top the list as, compared to the rest of the nation, the capital tends not to receive as much poor weather than say in the north or in Scotland. However, when poor weather arrives, it appears those in London have the toughest time adapting when on the road.
Government data show that London has more accidents (4,846) when the weather is poor than all other regions across the country, with nearly double the accidents that occur in Scotland and Wales, put together (2,629).
Within London itself, Lambeth was found to have the most bad-weather related accidents, with 248 occurrences reported last year. However, when it came to accidents related to just ice and snow, Brent took top place with five crashes.
South East Ranked Worst Region For Snow/Ice-Related Accidents.
When it comes to real wintery weather, the South East is the worst region in Britain for accidents. 146 accidents were reported last year when conditions were icy, which is nearly twice as many as Yorkshire/Humberside (75) and three times as many as London (49).
Hampshire and Surrey were the top locations for ice and snow-related accidents, with 27 reported last year.
North East Ranked Safest Region
One of the shocks of the data provided by the government was that the North East, which has just been struck with its first spell of snow over the last week, was the safest region in Britain when it came to reported road accidents in poor weather, with only 806 incidents. That’s a whopping six times less than was reported in London.
County Durham had the highest number of poor weather-related crashes with 147, Northumberland was next with 137 and Newcastle Upon Tyne with 100.
According to the data, Hartlepool was the safest place in the region with only 24 reported accidents.
Lancashire is the Nation’s diciest county with 36 accidents last year.
At a county level, Lancashire had the most reported ice and snow-related accidents, totalling 36 last year, with Devon and Lincolnshire close behind with 34 and 33 respectively.
Within the North West, Cumbria followed Lancashire as the second-worst county, with 17 reported accidents, with Liverpool and Manchester, perhaps unsurprisingly, totalling the most accidents at a city level with 199 and 178.
Glasgow Twice As Bad As Edinburgh
Glasgow has nearly twice the number of poor weather-reported accidents (246) compared to Edinburgh (132).
There were also 10 accidents reported when it was icy/snowy last year compared to only 2 reported in Edinburgh.
The only area of Scotland to top Glasgow when it came to ice/snow-related accidents was the Highland area of the country, with 16 reported accidents.
Carmarthenshire has the most accidents in Wales
The worst place for accidents when poor weather conditions hit Welsh roads is Carmarthenshire, which had 104 reported accidents last year.
In second place was not actually a county but in fact the nation’s capital, Cardiff, which has 96 reported accidents in poor weather, only eight less than the whole of Carmarthenshire.
We hope you’ve found these stats enlightening and we hope it’ll make you think a little more carefully and act more cautiously when out on the roads over the next few months.
If you’ve read this article and feel it’s the right time to get yourself a new set of wheels, leasing is a fantastic option! Here at Leasing Options, we have a huge selection of car leasing options, where there is a car perfect for everyone, no matter your location or need. We always have some truly special offers too so make sure you check those out, and if you have any questions about the cars available or even if you need a guide to leasing in general, our team is always on hand to help with whatever you need
Methodology
According to the Department of Transport, the following criteria was followed in the production of the data used for this piece of research.
“The majority of the statistics in the RRCGB reports are from road traffic accidents in which at least one person was injured and which were reported to the police. The accident had to involve at least one vehicle. This includes pedal cycles and ridden horses. The accident did not have to include any motor vehicles – for instance, an accident involving a pedal cyclist falling off their bicycle on the road would be included, even if no other vehicle or pedestrian was involved. The accident also had to take place on the public highway; so accidents in car parks, on private driveways and off-road are not included. Accidents which do not result in a personal injury (i.e. ‘damage-only’ accidents) are not included.”
