Britain’s most dangerous spots to get behind the wheel have been unveiled – with the worst having an appalling number of driving offences.
Bradford has been dubbed the capital of dangerous drivers, while three in the top five are all in the same county. The West Yorkshire city has a record of 247.5 dangerous driving offences per 100,000 people, the equivalent of one dangerous driving crime for every 420 people.
In the three years up to the end of June last year, officers in the city recorded 1,039 dangerous driving offences – 39 of which resulted in injuries or death. Only in neighbouring Leeds were more dangerous drivers stopped in this time, with 1,096 reports. The figures tally with separate figures released by the DVLA.
Second to that, the four postcode areas with the country’s highest number of drivers with points on their licence were all in Bradford. DVLA data showed that one in 20 drivers (5%) had at least six points on their licence in the BD3, BD1, BD8, and BD9 areas of Bradford.
In January 2023, 18-year-old Amber Deakin was killed when the Vauxhall Vectra she was travelling in crashed on a busy road in Bradford, with driver Jordan Spalding later pleading guilty to causing her death. That same month, 27-year-old mum Justyna Hulboj and her baby, Lena Czepczor, were both killed when a dangerous driver hit them as they walked along a pavement to nursery in Leeds.
Two other policing areas in West Yorkshire have the next highest proportion of dangerous driving offences. In Calderdale, there was the equivalent of one crime for every 574 people aged over 17, and in Leeds, it was one offence per 638 people.
All the top 10 areas with the worst rates of dangerous driving are in the West Yorkshire or Greater Manchester policing areas, and all the top 20 areas are in the North of England. You can see how your area fared on our interactive map.
Home Office figures show that police in England and Wales logged more than 5,700 crime reports of dangerous driving in the year to June 2024, including 830 offences that caused a death or serious injury. That was a similar overall figure to the previous two years, although the number of crimes causing death or serious injury has increased by 12% since 2022.
Dangerous driving is when a motorist’s actions fall “far below the minimum standard expected of a competent and careful driver” and could put themselves or others at risk of harm. Examples include speeding, driving aggressively, overtaking dangerously, or ignoring traffic lights.
It could also include driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, or driving when unfit, for example when feeling sleepy, or being unable to see clearly. Punishment could include a fine, disqualification from driving and even imprisonment. For the most serious offence of causing death by dangerous driving, the sentence could be up to 14 years in prison and a minimum disqualification from driving of two years.
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