Ever wondered what some of the UK’s most dangerous landmarks are? In this article, we’ll dive deep into all of the UK’s iconic landmarks, including safest and most dangerous as of 2024.
Britain is home to hundreds of landmarks, from iconic statues, historical buildings and mythological lakes. Each is situated in its own unique surroundings; some are close to busy roads, while others are deep in the countryside.
Due to the large number of visitors these locations receive year on year, it’s important to consider the safety of the roads surrounding our nation’s most famous landmarks.
We set out to investigate which landmarks are considered the most dangerous or safest for visitors, considering the number of road accidents between cars and vans that occurred in each area.
We at National Scrap Car have analysed CrashMap data to discover which iconic locations in Britain are the most dangerous for drivers, from castles to statues to Premier League football stadiums.
UK’s most dangerous landmarks
Our study has revealed the British landmarks with the highest volume of road accidents in the past 5 years. Classed as a collision involving a vehicle on a road or in a public area that has caused damage to a person, vehicle, animal or property, road accidents are ranked as either ‘fatal’, ‘severe’ or ‘slight’ depending on the seriousness of the incident.
The Fourth Plinth, located on Trafalgar Square, has been revealed as the most dangerous location in the UK with the most road accidents in its vicinity. Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, Edinburgh Castle, the London Eye and Brighton Palace Pier rounded off the top five.
| # | Landmark | Location | Country | Accidents | Fatal | Severe | Slight |
| 1 | The Fourth Plinth | London | England | 526 | 2 | 103 | 425 |
| 2 | Tyne Bridge | Newcastle and Gateshead | England | 419 | 3 | 71 | 346 |
| 3 | Edinburgh Castle | Edinburgh | Scotland | 357 | 1 | 98 | 258 |
| 4 | London Eye | London | England | 318 | 0 | 56 | 262 |
| 5 | Brighton Palace Pier | Brighton | England | 291 | 3 | 79 | 213 |
| 6 | Radcliffe Camera | Oxford | England | 285 | 1 | 48 | 236 |
| 7 | St Paul’s Cathedral | London | England | 282 | 1 | 91 | 193 |
| 8 | Natural History Museum | London | England | 275 | 0 | 53 | 225 |
| 9 | York Minster | York | England | 270 | 1 | 27 | 242 |
| 10 | Blackpool Tower | Blackpool | England | 267 | 2 | 74 | 192 |
| 11 | Royal Albert Dock | Liverpool | England | 258 | 2 | 53 | 203 |
| 12 | Coventry Cathedral | Coventry | England | 246 | 1 | 46 | 283 |
| 13 | Lincoln Cathedral | Lincoln | England | 238 | 2 | 42 | 195 |
| 14 | Tower of London | London | England | 226 | 1 | 48 | 177 |
| 15 | Tate Modern | London | England | 199 | 0 | 47 | 152 |
| 16 | Selfridges building | Birmingham | England | 197 | 1 | 32 | 165 |
| 17 | Tower Bridge | London | England | 196 | 0 | 30 | 166 |
| 18 | Palace of Westminster | London | England | 192 | 0 | 35 | 158 |
| 19 | Angel of the North | Gateshead | England | 181 | 0 | 36 | 145 |
| 20 | Buckingham Palace | London | England | 152 | 0 | 29 | 124 |
- The Fourth Plinth
As one of London’s most recognised locations, there were 526 road accidents recorded surrounding Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth in the past 5 years.
Of the 526, 19% were categorised as severe crashes, with over 80% being recorded as slight. 2 fatal incidents have occurred at the location since 2018, making it one of the most dangerous areas for drivers.
- Tyne Bridge
The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. In the past five years, 419 incidents occurred in the area, including 3 fatal accidents. A further 16% of incidents were recorded as severe, while 346 slight incidents occurred.
- Edinburgh Castle
Scotland’s largest tourist destination, Edinburgh, is home to the location with the third highest volume of accidents in the UK, Edinburgh Castle. 357 incidents were recorded, with 98 severe incidents reported and one fatal.
- London Eye
An iconic staple of the London skyline, the London Eye attracts millions of visitors every year.
In the period between 2018-2022 there were 318 reported vehicle crashes around the London Eye. Of these, 17% were classed as severe, over 250 as slight and no fatal incidents occurred.
- Brighton Palace Pier
Brighton is one of Britain’s most famous seaside locations and is particularly popular among Londoners as they take the hour trip from the capital. With 291 recorded accidents, Brighton may have a decreased total number of incidents than Edinburgh, however 2% were classed as fatal, meaning drivers are taking bigger risks while driving here.
The Safest Landmarks in Britain
Our study also revealed those areas with the least number of recorded accidents between 2018 and 2022.
Five locations had less than five recorded accidents in the past 5 years which included Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire, South Stack Lighthouse in Anglesey, Durdle Door in Dorset, Hadrian’s Wall in Cumbria and the Lindisfarne in Northumberland.
Every Premier League Stadium Ranked by the Number of Accidents
Every week from August to May, thousands of football fans descend upon England’s football stadiums to support their team in the Premier League. With the high volume of attendees for the games and other stadium events, congestion and road incidents continue to be an issue. Despite this, from the data we analysed, no fatal incidents were recorded for Premier League Stadiums in the past five years.
| # | Football Team | Stadium | Location | Accidents | Fatal | Severe | Slight |
| 1 | Chelsea | Stamford Bridge | London | 495 | 3 | 90 | 402 |
| 2 | Arsenal | Emirates Stadium | London | 344 | 1 | 51 | 292 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | Selhurst Park | London | 275 | 0 | 41 | 234 |
| 4 | Brentford | Brentford Community Stadium | London | 233 | 0 | 33 | 200 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | London | 223 | 1 | 24 | 199 |
| 6 | Luton Town | Kenilworth Road | Bedfordshire | 223 | 1 | 34 | 188 |
| 7 | Sheffield United | Bramall Lane | Yorkshire | 204 | 3 | 55 | 146 |
| 8 | West Ham United | London Stadium | London | 181 | 0 | 26 | 155 |
| 9 | Newcastle United | St James Park | Tyne and Wear | 167 | 2 | 35 | 130 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | Villa Park | West Midlands | 129 | 0 | 15 | 114 |
| 11 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Molineux | Staffordshire | 125 | 0 | 22 | 103 |
| 12 | Liverpool | Anfield | Merseyside | 101 | 0 | 28 | 73 |
| 13 | Burnley | Turf Moor | Lancashire | 98 | 1 | 28 | 69 |
| 14 | Everton | Goodison Park | Merseyside | 88 | 1 | 20 | 67 |
| 15 | Fulham | Craven Cottage | London | 86 | 0 | 19 | 67 |
| 16 | Bournemouth | Vitality Stadium | Dorset | 75 | 0 | 14 | 61 |
| 17 | Nottingham Forest | City Ground | Nottinghamshire | 75 | 0 | 10 | 65 |
| 18 | Manchester United | Old Trafford | Greater Manchester | 64 | 1 | 14 | 49 |
| 19 | Manchester City | Etihad Stadium | Greater Manchester | 29 | 2 | 2 | 25 |
| 20 | Brighton & Hove Albion | AMEX Stadium | Sussex | 29 | 0 | 6 | 23 |
- Chelsea FC – Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge, based in Fulham, is home to Chelsea FC. With a capacity of 40,343, it is the ninth largest venue of the 2023–24 Premier League season and the eleventh largest football stadium in England.
Chelsea’s location makes it the Premier League stadium with the highest volume of accidents in the past five years. Drivers should take extra care, with 18% of total accidents recorded as severe and 3 fatal incidents occurring in the area.
- Arsenal – Emirates Stadium
Arsenal are one of the most famous clubs in English football. Based in Holloway, London, it has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity of 60,704, making it the fifth-largest football stadium in England by capacity.
The stadium surroundings have 151 less recorded accidents than that of fellow London club Chelsea. Over five years, 344 incidents were recorded, with 14% being ‘severe’, 1 fatal incident and the rest being minor accidents.
- Crystal Palace – Selhurst Park
This season sees Crystal Palace celebrate their tenth consecutive campaign in England’s top flight. The Eagles have played at Selhurst Park since 1924 and there are no plans on the horizon for them to move out.
In a five-year period, there were 275 recorded accidents around Selhurst Park, the third highest in the Premier League. The vast majority (85%) of these were minor incidents, with only 41 incidentes being classed as severe.
UK Stadiums with the least accidents
On the opposite end of the table, Brighton’s AMEX Stadium is arguably the safest stadium for road users. The stadium has seen 29 recorded accidents over a five-year period with 6 incidents categorised as ‘severe’, with the remaining being ‘slight’.
Manchester’s Old Trafford and Etihad stadium closely followed, each recording less than 100 incidents in the past 5 years. Similarly Nottingham Forest’s City Ground and Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium had only 75 incidents reported.
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Methodology
To record road incident data, we analysed Crashmaps where we recorded the total number of accidents within a mile radius of each landmark between the years 2018-2022. The incidents were recorded as ‘fatal’, ‘severe’ or ‘slight’.
The list of attractions were gathered from loveexploring.com.