Calderdale's accident blackspot road revealed in new analysis

Government data on crashes which cause injury or death show Yorkshire and the Humber is the third worst region in the country with more than 60,000 crashes causing accidents between 2014 and 2018.

While the number of accidents causing death or injury has fallen by a sixth in the past five years, road safety charity Brake has said more should be done to catch and punish dangerous drivers.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it is making vital improvements to some of the country’s most dangerous stretches of road.

The most dangerous roads in Calderdale within that period of time were the A646 with 160 accidents causing casualties.

This is followed by the M62 with 145 on its stretch, and then the A629 with 134.

The M606 through Kirklees is among Britain’s worst 10 stretches of motorway for accidents causing injury or death per mile with 529 accidents.

Serious crashes are more likely to happen on a Friday and in the hour between 5pm and 6pm.

Drivers are more likely to be male and be aged between 26 and 35.

A spokesperson for road safety charity Brake said there were steps drivers could take to prevent accidents, such as slowing down, not using mobile phones when driving and getting their eyesight tested regularly.

But the spokesperson also said there needs to be “greater investment in road traffic enforcement so that people who do drive dangerously and break the law, endangering themselves and all other road users, are caught and punished”.

The DfT said allocation of crime-fighting resources is a matter for chief constables, in conjunction with police and crime commissioners.

The department said that busier roads will have a higher number of accidents but that “vital improvements” were being made to the road networks.

A spokesperson said: “We are committed to improving road safety across the country, and the Safer Roads Fund will provide vital improvements to the 50 most dangerous stretches of road in England.

“In addition, we launched a Road Safety Action Plan last year which set out more than 70 measures to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads.”