Britain's Most Dangerous Roads

Author: Road Safety Foundation
Published: 12 Jul 2010

Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Overview - Related Content

Synopsis

Road Safety Foundation study into some of the most dangerous and high-risk roads in the UK.

Overview

The Saving Lives for Less report identified the A537, which runs between Macclesfield and Buxton, as Britain's most dangerous road. Furthermore, the RSF found that half of all fatal road traffic accidents in Britain occur on just ten percent of the roads and motorways.

Around 28,000 miles of British motorways and A-roads were examined in the report, which was produced in a bid to encourage the government to focus spending on improving road safety. The RSF argue that the high costs of running hospitals and emergency services could be reduced by spending more modest sums on improving well-known accident blackspots.

Scotland emerged as the most dangerous region surveyed in the report, with one in nine fatal road traffic accidents occurring on the country's roads. Around 12 percent of Scotland's motorways and A-roads were rated in the higher risk categories.

The report also found that a third of all fatal and serious crashes occur at junctions, while one in four crashes involve a motorbike. Furthermore, serious road accidents are six times more likely to occur on single roads than on motorways, and carry double the risk of dual carriageways.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands was named in the report as Britain's safest region, while the A40 between Llandovery and Carmarthen is the nation's most improved road, with a 75 percent reduction in serious road accidents in the last three years.

Dr. Joanne Hill, director of the RSF, said: "Too often we pay for emergency services, hospitals and care for the disabled rather than taking easy steps to put road design faults right. Not only can Britain reduce road deaths and serious injuries bit, by targeting a relatively small mileage of high-risk roads, we can do so with good economic returns."