Report shows huge reduction in crashes on Banbury road - making it 'one of Britain’s most improved roads'

A new report has described a road between Banbury and Oxford as one of Britain’s most improved roads.

According to the Road Safety Foundation, there wes a 53 per cent reduction in serious and fatal crashes between 2013-2015 and 2016-2018 on the A4260, between the A44 north-west of Oxford and the A422 in Banbury

The report from the Road Safety Foundation and Ageas Insurance, Looking Back – Moving Forward, shows that there has been a reduction of 23 in the number of serious and fatal road collisions between 2013-2015 and 2016-2018.

A spokesperson for the the Road Safety Foundation said: "Safety improvements made include a major new residential development in Bodicote resulting in the signalling of an existing junction and the introduction of a new junction in late 2015/early 2016.

"The value to society of the crashes prevented on this stretch between 2016 and 2018, including the cost to the NHS, long term care, fire, police, ambulance, and the courts was nearly £8m."

Supported by Ageas since 2012, this annual report examines the performance of Britain’s motorways and ‘A’ road network, identifying the roads where lives could be saved with physical improvements. This year the analysis has identified that:

- 60 per cent of all deaths are concentrated on around 13 per cent of Britain’s roads.

- There were significant reductions in the numbers of fatal and serious crashes on 22 routes between 2013-2015 and 2016-2018.

- 765km of 38 persistently higher risk rural routes have been the location of more than 1,400 fatal and serious crashes between 2013 and 2018.

The data from the report has been used to update the interactive ‘Dangerous Roads Map’ - https://dangerousroads.ageas.co.ukCommenting on the findings of the report, Ageas Insurance CEO Ant Middle said: “The significant reduction in fatal and serious crashes on the A4260 shows just how many lives can be saved when roads are physically improved."

Suzy Charman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, said: “This 20th annual report shows that less than one per cent of roads were significantly improved between 2013-2015 and 2016-2018.

"The A4260 was one of the success stories and I’m delighted that such improvements have been made to the safety standard of the road."