Map reveals Britain’s most dangerous driving hotspots where motorists risk crashes – where does YOUR area rank?

YOU COULD unknowingly be motoring around one of the UK’s most dangerous driving hotspots, according to new figures released by the Home Office.

Police in England and Wales logged more than 5,700 crime reports of dangerous driving from 2022 to June 2024 – which included 830 offences that caused death or serious injury.

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In an eye-opening top-twenty ranking of areas with the highest rates of dangerous driving offences, Bradford sits at the top of the list as the dangerous driving capital.

In the three years to the end of June 2024, police recorded 1,039 crimes of dangerous driving in the West Yorkshire-based city, including 39 that caused death or serious injury.

For every 100,000 people over the legal driving age, there were 247 offences in Bradford – which works out as one dangerous driving crime for every 420 people.

Just this week, a 10-year-old girl died in Bradford after she was struck by a car in a horror crash that also left a teenager injured, with a 35-year-old driver arrested at the scene on suspicion of dangerous driving.

Last year, another incident outside a Tesco supermarket in Halifax Road, Buttershaw, Bradford, resulted in a pedestrian losing their leg in a horror 'hit-and-run'.

Calderdale, located 16 miles west of Leeds, was found to be the second area on the list, with 182.8 incidents per 100,000 people.

Leeds-based officers stopped more dangerous drivers than those in Bradford over the same period, with 1,096 crimes recorded.

However, Leeds ranks third, with 166.4 incidents per 100,000 people.

That includes a tragic car crash that killed a baby and injured three people one year ago - later resulting in the arrest of a 54-year-old man.

All of the top 10 areas with the worst rates of dangerous driving are in the West Yorkshire or Greater Manchester policing areas, while all of the top 20 areas are in the north of England.

While figures are similar to previous years, the number of accidents causing death or serious injury has risen by a concerning 12% since 2022.

In the UK, dangerous driving charges are considered when a motorist's actions are found to fall far below the minimum standard expected of a competent and careful driver.

This could include anything from speeding to aggressive driving.

Overtaking dangerously and ignoring traffic lights also fall under the definition.

Naturally, motorists travelling under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or medicine – or those found to be too tired – could also be charged.

Punishments range from a fine and penalty points on a driving licence to a driving ban, or in some cases, a custodial sentence.

This comes as a recent Freedom of Information request to all forces across the UK has uncovered the most potent vehicles in police fleets.

Among the UK's most powerful police patrol cars putting the brakes on crime is an unusual hot estate, as well as a super-fast Tesla.

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