Britain has lost its claim to have the safest roads in Europe, according to the European Transport Safety Council's (ETSC) first Road Safety PIN Report.
We no longer occupy the top spot in the European road safety league as progress on reducing the number of road deaths has been slower than in other countries.
We now have a higher number of road deaths per million population than the Netherlands and Sweden.
The findings of the report were released at a conference on UK road safety organised by the ETSC and Loughborough University's Vehicle Safety Research Centre (VSRC).
The report shows that between 2001 and 2005 there was a 7 per cent reduction in the number of road deaths in the UK compared to a 25 per cent reduction in Sweden and the Netherlands and a 35 per cent drop in France.
The report arrives at a time when the latest figures confirming Britain as having the highest number of speed cameras in Europe was revealed in a Parliamentary written answer to Tory transport spokesman Owen Paterson.
Apparently, there are now 5,562 roadside speed cameras in Britain compared to 1,935 back in 2000. Over the same period, mobile speed traps have increased from just 173 to 2,373.
In spite of this, the most worrying statistic in the ETSC report is the two per cent rise in the UK of drink driving, which many see as the result of a lack of police presence on our roads.
The report goes on to say that the average British driving speed has dropped by 9 per cent on urban roads. There has been a 3 per cent reduction in the average speed on roads with a 70mph speed-limit, but roads where the top speed is 60mph have seen an 9 per cent increase in the average speed of vehicles.
Only in France, Belgium and Switzerland have speeds been cut on all types of road in recent years, notes the report.
Professor Richard Allsop, ETSC Board Member and Chairman of the PIN Programme, said: "Much road safety policy and practice in the UK is good, but these comparisons with our fellow-Europeans come as a wake-up call to anyone tempted to acquiesce in present levels of death and injury on our roads - perhaps especially those concerned with priorities for law-enforcement."
Professor Pete Thomas, from VSRC, said: "The UK has been a leader in road and vehicle safety for many years helping to set the standard for Europe."
"Progress in reducing road deaths has slowed and the UK has to develop more innovative solutions and apply them."
Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: "This objective analysis of the performance of the UK reminds us of how much more progress we need to make."
"We used to claim that we had the safest roads in Europe. That claim is no longer matched in reality. The UK clearly needs to do much more to reclaim its position at the top of the EU road safety league."
Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman said Britain has some of the safest roads in the world.
He said: "Indeed when assessed on the basis of fatalities per passenger kilometre, which I believe is the best indicator to use when drawing a comparison as it takes into account both the number of fatalities and level of passenger mobility, Britain is second only to Sweden.”
"We have been congratulated by the ETSC for reducing overall speeds on urban roads and continually improving seatbelt wearing rates.”
Yesterday it was revealed that the minister had written a letter to Police chief constables reprimanding them for not policing our roads enough.
Commenting on the news, Paul Smith, founder of SafeSpeed.org.uk, said: "After 28 years of having the safest roads in Europe we have finally lost our crown."
"There's one reason and one reason only. We have had bad road safety policy since the early 1990s. At the centre of the bad policy are speed cameras and the oversimplified notion that 'slower is safer' - if only things were so simple!"
"An obsession with vehicle speeds has caused a gross neglect of road user quality - and road user quality is the true foundation of all road safety."
"Department for Transport policies have been based on dodgy statistics and false assumptions. No wonder they haven't worked. We need to scrap speed cameras to 'wash away' the layers of oversimplified thinking. Department for Transport must admit their mistakes and take full responsibility."
"Safe Speed's Scrap Speed Cameras Week will highlight the issues starting 24th June 2007."