The tragic accidents on M40 and M1 reminded me of some figures I read the other day.
These are the area-by-area figures for motorway casualties, showing those killed or seriously injured in 2013 with figures for length in miles, number of casualties and casualty rate per mile:
The figures for fatalities per mile show significant differences, some as you’d expect, some maybe surprising (low-ish rate for the area including M62, for instance.)
Great Britain: 2,262 miles; 8,732 casualties; 3.86 casualties per mile.
South-east England: 407; 2,453; 6.03.
London: 37; 210; 5.62.
East of England: 166; 891; 5.37.
North-west England: 402; 1,548; 3.85.
East Midlands: 121; 456; 3.76.
West Midlands: 267; 961; 3.59.
Yorkshire and the Humber: 252, 853, 3.39.
Wales: 88; 290; 3.30.
North-east England: 36; 110; 3.05.
South-west England: 203; 504; 2.48.
Scotland: 284; 456; 1.61.