UK roads fail safety test

• Half of motorways miss top marks
• 65% of single-carriageway roads get two-star rating
• Most dual carriageways rate poorly, too

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Half the UK's motorways fail to score top marks for safety, while A-roads are even worse, according to a new report.

The Government is being urged by the report's authors to place greater emphasis on the safe design of roads and so cut the billions of pounds that accidents cost the economy every year.

Road network fails to get top marks
The recommendation comes from the Road Safety Foundation, which revealed that just half of the country’s motorway network scores the maximum four-star safety rating, while more than 75% of dual-carriageways get just three stars, and two-thirds of the single-carriageways manage just two stars.

John Dawson, chairman of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), which carried out 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.'

Roads rated for risk of death and disabling injury
The foundation inspected 95% of the 4350 miles of motorways and trunk roads in England, and rated them on how well the design protects users from death or disabling injury when a crash occurs.

Among the sections of the motorway network scoring just three stars are parts of the M40, M4, M11 and M25. Meanwhile, parts of the A5, A52 and A49 were among the two-star scoring single-carriageway roads.

How roads are rated
The Foundation's road safety assessment looks at three main areas:
• Protection provided if vehicles run off the road;
• Risk of head-on collisions;
• Safety of junctions

Dr Joanne Hill, director of the Road Safety Foundation, said, 'Motorways are our safest roads, scoring well on two of these factors, but half do not protect road users who run off the road.'

She also said that 90% of dual carriageways have poor protection for lay-bys and minor access roads, while 91% of single carriageways fail in run-off and head-on collision protection.

Motorway sections with the lowest average three-star rating