Roundabouts most common location for 'near misses'

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Drivers in Britain are most likely to narrowly avoid a collision at roundabouts than any other junction or road type, a study has found. 

Roundabouts featured in a fifth of the 2,810 near-miss scenarios experienced in 2024 and reported to collision support service AA Accident Assist.

The incidents largely involved respondents saying someone almost ran into the back of them, or they nearly drove into the vehicle in front.

Car parks (11 per cent) and junctions (9 per cent) completed the top three most common locations for close calls on the road.

And motorists admit they've had plenty of near misses in the last 12 months. 

A quarter of respondents to a survey of 13,767 AA members said they had at least one near-collision last year.

Drivers in Britain are most likely to narrowly avoid a collision at roundabouts than any other junction or road type, a study has found

Among some of the youngest drivers on the road aged 18 to 24 experienced the most cases (37 per cent) of narrowly evading a crash in 2024, with those aged 65 and above the least likely (21 per cent) to have had a near miss.

Separate figures show one in five newly qualified drivers crash within the first 12 months after passing their test.

Tim Rankin, managing director of the AA's road collision support service Accident Assist, said: 'Crashing into something or someone can be a frightening and stressful experience, yet one in four drivers almost found themselves in that position.

'Some drivers admitted to us that they were distracted by something else at the time, or that they simply weren't expecting the unexpected.'

Roundabouts featured in a fifth of the 2,810 near-miss scenarios experienced in 2024 and reported to collision support service AA Accident Assist

The incidents largely involved respondents saying someone almost ran into the back of them, or they nearly drove into the vehicle in front

Discussing the high rate of near misses at roundabouts, he added: 'Concentration on roundabouts and at junctions is especially important, as these are where drivers were most vulnerable.

'While inexperience is a big factor, drivers of all ages found themselves in difficult situations.

'Driving is a lifetime skill, so finding a way to encourage and reward in-life learning could produce safer drivers.'

While Rankin's safety recommendations ring true, drivers in Britain are being forced to tackle increasingly confusing junctions, especially with the emergence of Dutch roundabouts.

An annotated aerial shot of Britain's first Dutch-style roundabout, which opened in Cambridge in 2020 at the cost of £2.4million, explaining how the circular intersections work

The bright red lanes around the circumference of the first Dutch-style roundabout in the UK is the most distinctive feature, which is a path to separate cyclists from other road users

The third and latest Dutch-style roundabout in the UK has just been completed in Chichester - pictured here during its near-£1m construction

The UK's first - with a red bike lane running through it and pedestrian crossings at every exit - opened in Cambridge in June 2020 at a cost of £2.4million. 

The third and latest of these Dutch-style roundabouts - which give priority to cyclists and pedestrians - has recently been completed on the Westgate Roundabout near Chichester Cathedral.

That circular intersection is rumoured to have cost £950,000 to build.

Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: 'On the roads in Britain we give way from the right. If you start mucking about the rules, no-one will know what to do. Just leave things alone.

'If you make rules that are simple, they are more likely to be obeyed. 

'It's just nonsensical to me to change a system that is working perfectly alright as it is.'