Accident map: Scotland’s most dangerous driving regions

A road safety map has revealed where you are most likely to be killed or seriously injured in traffic accidents in Scotland.

The research has been published by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Traffic Accidents (PACTS) in collaboration with motoring group RAC.

The study shows that Banff and Buchan in the north east had the worst record for accidents where at least one individual has been killed or seriously injured (KSI) in the entirety of the UK  The constituency carries an index rating of 211 - meaning the casualty rate was 111 higher than the national average.

Map showing highest risk areas for Scotland. Dark Green= Very Low risk. Yellow= Average. Dark Orange = Very High Picture: PACTS

Overall, Banff and Buchan carried the worst KSI rate in the UK and ranked 1st out of 632 constituencies.

Accidents in Banff and Buchan were most likely to happen on a Friday, when one-in-five of the most serious crashes were recorded. They were also most likely to occur between 5pm and 6pm.

The data from PACTS revealed the north east of Scotland to have the worst record of the most serious crashes with analysts recognising that rural areas were more likely to suffer.

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine had the second worst record in the UK, with a casualty rate 82 per cent above the national average.

Crashes there were more likely to happen on a Saturday with more accidents recorded between 4pm and 5pm than at any other time.

The third highest serious crash rate in the UK was recorded in the constituency of Gordon, with casualty rate 70 per cent higher than the national average.

Areas of highest casualty rates in UK

Banff and Buchan 211

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 182

Gordon 170

Bexhill and Battle 169 Thirsk and Malton 168

North east Cambridgeshire 168

Wealdn 163

Sherwood 158

Louth and Horncastle 157

Montgomeryshire 156

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 156

UK AVERAGE 111

More people were killed or seriously injured in Gordon on a Saturday, with crashes most likely to be recorded between 5pm and 6pm.

The report said: “The constituencies with the highest indices tend to be very rural in nature, probably reflecting the high speed impacts as vehicles travel at faster speeds on roads with fewer safety engineering measures to reduce inherent risks in the road network.”

East Dunbartonshire was ranked as the constituency in Scotland where a serious road accident was least likely to happen, with its record 37 per cent lower than the national average. It appeared in 613rd place in the list of UK constituencies.

East Kilbride, Strathhaven and Lesmahagow was ranked 592nd out of 632 for the level of those killed or seriously injured on its roads with East Renfrewshire at 595. Both constituencies had accident rates at 31 per cent below the national average.

Despite the high rates of fatal and serious accidents recorded in Scotland, particularly the north and north east, the country does come out far more favourably when looking at all casualties.

This categories includes those who were even slightly injured.

In this category, Glasgow North had the lowest recorded casualty rate at 46% below the national average.

This is followed by Dunfermline and West Fife, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and Orkney and Shetland.

Aberdeen South, Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Dundee West also feature in the 10 areas of the UK where road casualties - from the most serious to the most minor - were least likely to occur.