Britain loses 2% of GDP in road crashes and half of all the country's road deaths are concentrated on just 10% of roads - motorways and 'A' roads outside urban cores.
A report from the Road Safety Foundation maps the risks on the network and analyses where the loss of GDP is concentrated in non-metropolitan authorities.
In the three-year period studied, four authorities - Kent, Hampshire, Essex and Lancashire - suffered more than £0.5bn of economic loss on their roads from crashes resulting in death and serious injury alone.
Analysis of the 45,000 kms of roads mapped finds Britain's most improved roads.
From consultation with authorities, it shows straightforward attention to detail - such as improved road markings, junction layouts, speed limits, and pedestrian crossings - enabled authorities to reduce road crashes by 80% on the 10 most improved sections.
Britain's most improved road is the A70 Cumnock - Ayr in Scotland. Britain's most persistent high risk road is the A18 Laceby - Ludborough between the East Midlands and Yorkshire.
Britain's safest region by far is the West Midlands whose single carriageways are the safest. The fastest improving region is Scotland whose single carriageways roads, on which the country is so reliant, now perform above average.
On average, Britain's single carriageways are now eight times more risky than a motorway.
The largest single cause of death is running off the road: the largest cause of serious injury is at junctions.
Single carriageways in the South East are the worst performing and are nearly twice as risky as those in the West Midlands.
Single carriageways in the North West also under perform. Wales and the East Midlands are overall the riskiest places to use the roads.
