Aberdeen named among UK's 10 most dangerous places for pedestrians

Ruaraidh Britton
·2-min read
The Granite City was named Scotland's third most dangerous city for pedestrians
-Credit: (Image: Getty)


New research has named Aberdeen as the ninth most dangerous area for pedestrians among UK regions.

The study, conducted by insurance experts Howden Insurance, analysed the latest data from the Department for Transport Statistics on road collisions to see which areas had the highest percentage involving pedestrians on average each year between 2013 and 2022.

It found that the City of London area is the most dangerous area in the UK for pedestrians. Between 2013 and 2022, 28.15% of all accidents involved pedestrians, the highest of any area in the UK.

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Statistically, 2018 was the most dangerous year for pedestrians, with 32.49% of collisions involving them. Dundee City comes in second place and is also statistically the most dangerous area in Scotland for pedestrians.

On average, 23.98% of collisions each year between 2013 and 2022 involved pedestrians. 2018 was the most dangerous year for pedestrians in the area, with 29.67% of collisions involving them.

Rounding out the top five is the Glasgow City area, which comes in with 22% of all accidents each year between 2013 and 2022 involving pedestrians. Statistically, the area’s most dangerous year for pedestrians was 2013, with 24.62% of collisions involving them.

Aberdeen meanwhile was third of the Scottish cities included, with 20.18% of collisions involving pedestrians between 2013 and 2022.

The findings come as work gets underway in the Granite City to create a new pedestrian space on Union Street Central, with calls having been made in recent years to pedestrianise the entirety of the Granite Mile.

The top ten most dangerous UK areas for pedestrians

Rank

Local authority (name)

Region (name)

2013-2022 average percentage of accidents involving pedestrians

1

City of London

London

28.15%

2

Dundee City

Scotland

23.98%

3

Westminster

London

23.43%

4

Oldham

North West

22.63%

5

Glasgow City

Scotland

22.00%

6

Camden

London

21.41%

7

Liverpool

North West

20.92%

8

Bolton

North West

20.35%

9

Aberdeen City

Scotland

20.18%

10

Manchester

North West

19.76%

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for Howden Insurance said: "While overall road safety has seen an improvement in many areas in the past ten years, its cause for concern that some areas it is evidently still an issue, like with Oldham seeing its most dangerous year in 2022.

"With the idea of walkable cities being pushed by many city councils, it’s important that pedestrian safety is heavily considered to ensure people still feel it’s a sensible idea to walk instead of driving."

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