Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few months, you're probably aware that the Queen celebrates 60 years on the throne next month. To mark this occasion, the Institute of Advanced Motorists is looking back at just how much safer our roads have become since 1952.
In 1952 there were only four million cars on the road, compared to 34 million today. Weirdly though, 13 people died on the roads every day in the year the Queen ascended the throne, compared to only five people per day in 2012. In total, 313,000 people have died on the roads since 1952.
This drastic improvement in safety is partly due to the number of road safety laws which have been introduced since the early fifties. The MoT test, drink driving laws, compulsory seatbelt wearing and motorcycle helmet wearing have all been introduced since 1952.
IAM chief executive Simon Best said, "Road safety gets better by the year, and the technology of roads and cars improves all the time."
The chart below shows how the number of road deaths has decreased over the last sixty years.
