Car Accidents > News
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Motorways And A Roads Given Sub Standard Safety Ratings
Tue, 02 Feb 2010

Nearly half of all motorways in England do not meet top safety standards, according to a new report by the Road Safety Foundation .

The foundation inspected 95 per cent of the 4350 miles of motorways and major A-roads in England as part of an international safety assessment, and rated each on how well the design protects drivers from death or disabling injury in the event of an accident .

Just half of the country’s motorway network received the maximum four-star safety rating, while A-roads fared even worse, with more than 75 per cent of dual-carriageways given three stars and two-thirds of the single-carriageways receiving just two stars for safety.

The report noted motorways for their safety measures for junctions and head-on collisions, but added that many do not protect drivers who run off the road.

Dual carriageways were also recognised for their safety measures in head-on collisions, but the report said that most single carriageway roads lacked the features needed to protect motorists.

The Road Safety Foundation - the UK arm of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) - claimed crashes cost the economy billions of pounds each year, and urged the government to cut such costs by improving the safety design of the country’s major roads.

EuroRAP chairman John Dawson, who lead the research, said: "Most deaths happen on busy one- or two-star main single carriageway roads that need urgent investment in affordable safety line markings, safety fencing and better junction layouts."

"Road crashes cost England's economy £18 billion annually, but we could make road travel as safe as rail or air. UK roads can be the safest in the world over the next decade if the same high-return investment in safe road design is made as other leading nations."
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.