Dangerous driving Yorkshire: Danger driving hotspots in Bradford to be targeted as city has six of the top worst postcodes for crashes

New data has revealed that Bradford has six of the top 10 worst postcodes in West Yorkshire for drivers who are involved in crashes where a pedestrian is either killed or seriously injured.

The data could soon lead to shift in how road safety measures are rolled out – with campaigns and crackdowns introduced in these hot spot areas in a bid to prevent accidents.

A report going to Bradford Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee on Thursday shows that although the most serious road incidents have been spread throughout the District, the worst areas are also found in areas of high deprivation.

It shows the BD3 postcode, which includes Leeds Road, Barkerend and areas of Thornbury, is the worst area for crashes where pedestrians are seriously injured.

Members will hear that as well as enforcement, these areas could see more measures such as campaigns and school visits.

The latest date for Bradford, which looks at 2022, reveals that there were 14 fatal road casualties that year – up from 12 in 2021.

291 people were killed or seriously injured in 2022 whilst the figure was 305 in 2021.

It also shows that when looking at figures on “killed or seriously injured” casualty rates per billion vehicle miles, Bradford has seen a dramatic increase – rising by 44 per cent compared to the 2017-2019 average.

Referring to the new way of collecting data, the report says: “West Yorkshire’s recently established data group is now yielding a greater level of understanding of what is happening and where on our District’s roads.

“A recent document produced by the group highlighted post code areas of high risk where drivers were involved in pedestrian killed or serious collisions.

“Bradford has six out of the top ten postcodes in West Yorkshire for driver injury to pedestrians with BD3 having the highest rate per 100,000 population (a rate of 128 drivers/100,000 population) and a total of 44 drivers involved in collisions that either killed or seriously injured a pedestrian over a four year period.

“Other postcodes in the top ten are BD1 (city centre), BD2 (including Undercliffe and Eccleshill), BD7 (Lidget Green, Little Horton and Great Horton), BD8 (Manningham and Girlington) and BD9 (Heaton and Frizinghall).

“With the help of the police, we are starting to understand where dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour on the roads is taking place and where the perpetrators reside.

“Action around enforcement and education can now start to take place in a targeted manner along with bringing in other agencies such as the Youth Service, Education, Public Health and Social Services so we can tackle the issue as part of a whole systems approach.”

The report adds: “It can clearly be seen that the most deprived parts of the district feature the highest levels of casualties.

“A pre-collision approach to delivery is the next step where a multi-agency approach looks at areas of high risk on the network and the solution to the issue will be a district wide approach with all our partners.”

Members will also be given an update on various enforcement actions that have been taking place to improve road safety.