A national road safety body could take on full responsibility for monitoring progress.
Road safety is a main priority for all motorists and ideas to improve it in the UK are constantly being tried and tested.
One way to address the issue could be the introduction of a national road safety body, which can take full responsibility for monitoring progress in this area. This is the suggestion of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), which has called for such a move in order to bring together best practice to ensure safer roads benefit everybody to the same degree.
The comments come in response to new research carried out by the IAM, which analysed data produced by the Department for Transport and showed the biggest increase in accident rates for killed and seriously injured people in 2012 was seen in the north-east of England.
According to the findings, the region witnessed a eight per cent rise in such rates, which equates to an extra 65 incidents of this type.
At the other end of the scale, the most notable road safety improvements have been seen in the south-east. Despite this being one of the nation's worst performing road safety areas last year, it registered an eight per cent decrease over the following 12 months.
In London last year, an increase of 217 in the number of people killed or seriously injured in accidents was reported, while a six per cent escalation in accident rates for the most serious collisions was seen in the south-east of England.
Reductions were witnessed in the north-west, the south-east and the West Midlands, while small increases were seen in the east of England, Yorkshire and Humber and London.
As a result of this movement, England experienced an overall reduction of two per cent in accident rates.
Simon Best, chief executive of the IAM – which promotes itself as the leading independent road safety charity in the UK – commented: "Drivers across England should not be at higher risk just because of where they live. Additional funding should be available to those areas with greater road safety problems."
By George Davis