Generally, it’s pretty easy to get around UK towns and cities on foot. Sure, the trains are expensive and some places are pretty car-centric, but you can walk all the way from the highest point on the UK mainland, John O’Groats, to Land’s End, the lowest point, if you want to. That’s pretty impressive.
With that said, not everywhere in Britain is ideal for pedestrians. In fact, some places are really quite bad for the carless. Insurance company Howden did some number crunching and, using 10 years’ worth of statistics from the Department for Transport, determined where in the country you’re most likely to get into some trouble if you’re travelling on two feet.
According to Howden, the most dangerous place to be a pedestrian is (drumroll please)... the City of London! A whopping 28.15 percent of all reported collisions in the Square Mile were between man and machine. That’s nearly a third of them. Ouch.
Dundee came in a close second, with just shy of 24 percent of vehicular accidents involving a poor, unsuspecting human. Then it was back down to London, as Westminster claimed the bronze medal. For a city with such great public transport – and such little need for cars – London’s pedestrians are remarkably unsafe.
Here are the UK’s 10 most dangerous places to go for a stroll, including the percentage of car-related accidents involving a pedestrian.
The UK’s most dangerous places for pedestrians
- City of London, London – 28.2 percent
- Dundee City, Scotland – 24 percent
- Westminster, London – 23.4 percent
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – 22.6 percent
- Glasgow City, Scotland – 22 percent
- Camden, London – 21.4 percent
- Liverpool, North West – 20.9 percent
- Bolton, Greater Manchester – 20.4 percent
- Aberdeen City, Scotland – 20.1 percent
- Manchester, North West – 19.8 percent
Basically cities are generally more risky to traverse on foot, but that isn’t a surprise. All that’s left to say is remember to look left, then right, then left again if you’re walking. And if you’re in a two-tonne motor vehicle, do try your best to avoid hitting human bodies.
Fancy a walk?
Why walk through the busy, dangerous city when you could go on one of these beautiful hikes through the British countryside? If you prefer a waterside view, try a jaunt down one of our favourite UK beaches, or to one of these gorgeous wild-swimming locations.
Did you see that a new scenic rail route through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales has just launched?
Plus: 8 UK universities are the best in the world.
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