This year’s annual report compares how the safety of each stretch of Britain’s 45,000kms of motorways and A roads changed between the first half of the last decade (2001-2005) and the second (2006-2010).

The planned reforms in road financing means a new focus on measuring safety performance and the high returns quickly available from safety engineering. Most A roads are higher risk than motorways. Deaths can be frequent when these carry high traffic flows. This year, for the first time, we have introduced a listing of “busy higher risk roads” where the economic case for intervention is compelling.