Using official data recorded by the police in Great Britain between 1999 and 2010, BBC News has plotted on a map every road collision that has resulted in a fatality.
In all, 36,371 fatalities are marked on the interactive map. The data derives from detailed information recorded by the police at the scene of every crash, which is transferred onto a computer database.
Additional data reported by BBC News, on a website dedicated to road collision data, shows that during the 12 years to 2011, the police recorded more than three million road casualties in Great Britain. More than 36,000 people lost their lives and another 373,985 were seriously injured.
A total of 7,004 bikers and their pillions lost their lives between 1999 and 2010. The data shows that despite, motorbikes accounting for just 1% of road traffic, they account for over a fifth of all fatalities; a casualty rate that is 61 times greater than that for cars.
Pedestrians are among the most vulnerable road users. Though the annual number of fatalities has reduced during the decade, the data shows that 8,242 pedestrians died on the roads between 1999 and 2010. The most dangerous time for pedestrians is during the rush hour.
BBC News cites preliminary research by South Yorkshire Police, which reveals that for every fatal collision there is a one in two chance that the driver ‘responsible’ has a criminal record. Researchers found that 56% of lorry drivers involved in a collision had a previous motoring offence and 41% had a criminal record.
BBC News underlines that as with any large collection of data there will be errors and omissions that occur in the process and some of these will be found on the map.
Click here to see the BBC News map of road fatalities.
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