Road accidents on the decline but Devon continues to see the most in the South West

Statistics recently published by the Department for Transport reveal that the South West is one of England’s safest regions for road users, while Devon continues to see the most traffic accidents in the area.

According to the RAC, there were 38.9 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain as of September 2019 and, with such a huge volume of cars on the road, accidents are an inevitability, which can lead to compensation claims as the injured party seek damages on a no win no fee basis. But the data shows that despite an increase in traffic, the number of incidents is actually falling.

There were 160,597 casualties of all severities in Great Britain in 2018 – a 6% drop from the previous year – but how does the South West compare to the rest of England and how does Devon fare against the likes of Bristol and Cornwall?

Number of accidents continues to fall

There were 9,792 reported incidents in the South West in 2018 – a decrease on the 10,057 during the previous 12 months. This represents the continuation of a welcome trend, with the numbers showing a steady decline across the last few years, from 11,259 in 2013.

South West among the safest regions

As one might expect given the greater volume of traffic, London was found to be England’s most dangerous area for road users, with 25,662 accidents during 2018. Next on the list was the South East (19,164), while the South West came out as the third-safest, behind the North East (3,899) and the East Midlands (8,603).

Devon the South West’s most accident-prone area

Given it is one of England’s biggest counties and certainly the largest area within the region, it is perhaps little surprise that Devon continues to top the list of road accidents in the South West, with 1,545 in 2018. Cornwall is second, with 1,175, while if you discount the Isles of Scilly (two incidents) then the safest areas are Torbay (261) and Bath and North East Somerset (262).

Majority of accidents occur in the dry

Perhaps surprisingly, almost two thirds of Devon’s 1,545 accidents happened on dry roads, with 498 occurring in wet or flooded conditions and a further 33 in snow or ice. There were also 33 incidents on Devon’s motorways – just 2% of the total – with well over half (880) occurring on minor roads.

Most accidents are slight in severity but fatalities increase in Devon

There are three categories for road traffic accidents – fatal, serious and slight – and thankfully, the majority of them fall into the latter class. Of the 9,792 incidents in the South West, 7,827 (80%) were slight, while there were 172 fatalities, which amounts to less than 2%. In Devon, 30 people were killed on the roads in 2018 – more than in any of the previous five years – with 326 accidents classed as serious and 77% (1,189) as slight.