According to a survey by the
Road Safety Foundation 58% of A-roads and 25% of motorways have failed to rate as safe. The 2009 study takes account of 45,000km (27,961.7miles) of motorways and A-roads where as previously only 22,000km (13,670miles) were included. Dr Joanne Hill, the Director of the RSF said 'Overwhelmingly, the UK's highest-risk roads are single-carriageways, and eight out of ten of the 'persistently higher risk' roads are in the North of England, notably around Buxton, Sheffield, Macclesfield and Yorkshire and Humberside.'She continues 'Motorways and Primary A-roads are the ones drivers use to travel longer journeys, such as for holidays or for long-distance haulage; but it is the busy non-primary routes - the ones that take volumes of traffic at all hours between towns and villages across Britain - that the new survey shows represent the highest risk, accounting for 62% of all road deaths.'One of Britain's most dangerous roads is a 12km (7.4mile) section between Macclesfield and Buxton which has seen a 42% increase in fatal and serious collisions since last year. Of these 27 accidents 18 involved motorcyclists. If motorcyclists are removed from the league table, the A675 between Higher Walton and the M65 (J3) is Britain's most dangerous road, with over half collisions occurring at junctions.However, there are measures being implemented to improve some roads. For example, the A40 stretch of road between Carmarthen and Llandovery is now Britain's most improved road with fatalities cut by more than 80% thanks to road resurfacing and improved design and layout of junctions.How are you finding the roads in the UK these days? I drive on the A406 and A40 to work every morning, and find it horrendous. The A406 is just awful, in my opinion the worst road in North London, it leads to the M4, A40, M1 and M11. I feel it's the M25 A-road within the M25, as it circles the outskirts of Central London.Do you think these road improvement schemes are going to work in the long run with increased congestion on the roads? Let us know your thoughts.
