It would be interesting to see in a national survey of motorists how many drivers thought that motorways were the most dangerous roads to drive on. I have met countless numbers of people, mainly, but not all, women who just will not use motorways because they believe them to be death traps. I wonder, then, what they would make of the most recent report by the charity the Road Safety Foundation (RSF).
The report called “Saving lives for less” indentifies the ten most dangerous roads in Britain as well as pinpointing exactly what parts of our roads are the most liable to motoring accidents.
The most startling statistic is that single carriage highways are by far the most dangerous, we are six times more likely to be killed on a single carriageway than on a motorway, and twice as likely to be killed on a single carriageway rather than a dual carriageway. Plenty of food for thought there as one queues to get off the M25. Road junctions, the report confirms, are the most dangerous parts of out road network as over 30% of all serious /fatal accidents occur there.
Once again the “Cat and Fiddle” officially the A357 occupies top spot for the most dangerous road with 34 serious/fatal crashes in the period 2006-2008. The road runs between Macclesfield and Buxton and is a favourite stretch for motor cyclists because of its testing nature. Unsurprisingly motor cycles were involved in the majority of accidents. Other roads featuring in the worst ten were the A684, A621, A5012, A54 and the A18 which was the worst of all when taking motor cyclists out of the equation The A3072 in the West country was the only one of the top ten to be located in the south of the UK.
The report also gave a rundown of the most improved roads with the A40 between Llandovery and Carmarthen winning the accolade for its reduction by 74% in serious/fatal crashes.
The report went on to say that in targeting the 10% of roads that attract 33% of accidents for road improvements, the Government could make massive savings on the cost of road crashes to the nation. Obviously insurance companies would also benefit from this, which would be passed onto to motorists when getting a motor insurance quote.
Tags: Car Insurance, safety