New independent research by Select Car Leasing using data produced by road safety charity THINK! highlights the perils of ‘rubbernecking’ whilst driving.
Referring to the physical act of craning your neck to look at something of interest, the UK’s motorists are slowing down in droves to look at accidents, animals in passing fields or even just to wave to their friends on the street. The sheer scale of the problem was highlighted by a case in 2015 where police prosecuted more than 40 motorists in a single hour who were slowing down to film a lorry crash.
Rubbernecking’ has developed from spying an accident on the motorway, to drivers actively slowing down on the many roads straddling famous landmarks to get a peek.
With this in mind, Select Car Leasing analysed 50 of the UK’s most iconic landmarks to find out the top 10 most dangerous landmarks to drive past in the UK today. To do this Select used the THINK! crash map to count the number of accidents in the immediate surrounding area between 2013 and 2018.
These locations bring a whole new meaning to the term ‘Tourist Trap’. These were the top ten most dangerous landmarks to drive past in the UK in 2020.
With the clamour to see a royal residence by tourists every year and the general hustle and bustle atmosphere in London, Buckingham Palace eclipsed the competition as the most dangerous landmark to drive past in the UK. In the 6 years between 2013 and 2018 there were 203 accidents in the surrounding roads of the palace – that’s 34 per year. A glut of tourists, cabbies, private vehicles, and cyclists mean the highways that hug one of the capital’s most popular destinations are fast-becoming a hotbed of road accidents.
London appeared 3 times on the list, with the capital city’s attractions bringing more collisions than any other location. The standout landmark featured on the list is Brighton Pier which came in second place, with 124 crashes in the past 6 years on the surrounding road and junctions. The appearance of the Angel of the North and Stonehenge make for concerning reading, considering the high-speed roads that run parallel to these attractions.
Landmark problem: construction of Spurs Stadium saw 39% increase in accidents
The home of Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, has recently opened with construction beginning back in 2015.
To analyse the impact of the construction, we counted the number of accidents on the three roads surrounding the stadium before and after building began including High Road, Northumberland Park and Worchester Avenue.
Before construction in the years 2013 and 2014, the was a total of 17 accidents with an average of 8.5 per year. However, between 2015 and 2018 once construction began, there was 47 accidents in the same area, averaging 11.8 per year.
That’s a considerable 39% rise in traffic accidents after they broke ground on the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
*Note: Incidents are plotted to within 10 metres of their location and as such, can sometimes appear to be off the road or carriageway.
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