Experts Call for Action over Dangerous A Roads

25/06/2009

Major roads around Sheffield. Buxton and Macclesfield have been highlighted as safety concerns in a survey of almost 28,000 European roads and motorways by the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP). 8 out of 10 of the most high risks routes in the UK were in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

Single carriageway A roads usually in rural areas were found to be the most dangerous, with experts calling for improved signage, dividing lines, junctions and road surfaces. The programme found that 58% of A roads it assessed in the UK were found to be either neutral or poor for safety.

Dr Joanne Hill of the Road Safety Foundation, which is affiliated to the work of EuroRAP, highlighted the risk of serious injury and death on winding major routes between towns and villages.

Representatives of the Institute of Advanced Motorists called for improvements in safety designs, which can include barriers alongside the road edge to prevent vehicles from leaving the road, better separation of lanes of opposing traffic and greater prevention of overtaking in risky spots.

The Department for Transport meanwhile stressed evidence of falling rates of deaths and serious injuries on the UK’s road, releasing figures that show that the number of deaths on UK roads fell to 2,538 in 2008 - the lowest level since records began. A spokesman from the DfT said: "We've cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads by more than a third since the mid-1990s. That means almost 17,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year"

The Department for Transport continues to work on improvements to Britain’s A roads, in conjunction with their "A Safer Way" programme of improving road safety.

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