23 August 2002: More than three quarters of drivers radically under-estimate the risk of dying on UK roads, estimating that 1 in 2000 people or even fewer die on roads, according to a survey carried out by the Green Flag assisitance organisation in conjunction with the Brake road safety charity.

A shocking third of drivers (32%) think that only one in 2 million people die on the road. The truth is that one in 200 people die on the road, on average losing 40 years from their life expectancy.

A third of drivers underestimate the risk of killing someone on foot at speed. They think that the chance of a pedestrian dying if hit at 40mph is 50% or less. In fact it is 85% likely that the pedestrian will die.

More than half (51%) of drivers feel safest behind the wheel compared with on a train or plane. In fact the roads are more dangerous. More than two thirds of deaths on roads are drivers.