Driving Change: Investing in Safer Roads’,

26 November 2024

Ambitious investment in safer roads could prevent 17,000 deaths and serious injuries over next 20 years in UK.

Investing £2.5bn into high-return road safety schemes could prevent more than 17,000 deaths and serious injuries over the next 20 years, saving nearly £9bn in societal losses in the process, according to a new report.

The annual crash risk mapping report, this year titled ‘ Driving Change: Investing in Safer Roads’, has been published by the Road Safety Foundation. The report analyses the performance of road networks in England, Scotland and Wales, identifying investment opportunities based upon the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) that should be achievable on each road.

The annual crash risk mapping dataset has been used by several strategic and local authorities to understand the safety performance of their roads. This has been used by some to prioritise which routes to take forward for road safety investment.

In the case of the English Strategic Road Network, National Highways has prioritised routes with a high crash density and a low star rating. With the DfT’s Safe Roads Fund, routes were selected based on the potential return on investment. So far, the £185m investment in the Safer Roads Fund has led to schemes that are expected to prevent 2,600 fatal and serious injuries over a 20-year period, with a societal benefit of £1.2 bn.

Crash risk maps can be found here: