 |
| |
| After the swift success of the Euro NCAP scheme,
Britain’s roads are now being given a similar star rating
– according to the number of deaths and injuries on
them |
 |
| “The A889 may be a spectacular
Scottish drive, but with 875 deaths or serious injuries
per one billion vehicle km, it is 14 times more dangerous
than the national average” |
|
Choosing the wrong road to drive along could be the equivalent
of signing your own death sentence. A total of 833 of Britain’s
roads have been assessed and given a rating based on how many
people have been killed or seriously injured on them, and 370
roads have been identified as posing a higher-than-average risk
to people using them.
Of those, 23 roads, headed by the notorious A889 between the A86
and A9 near Dalwhinnie in Scotland, were judged to be so dangerous
– more than 180 fatal or serious injury accidents per one
billion vehicle km – that they did not receive a rating.
The A889 may be a spectacular Scottish drive, but with 875 deaths
or serious injuries per one billion vehicle km, it is 14 times
more dangerous than the national average and has an accident rate
almost double that of the next most dangerous road – the
A537 Macclesfield in Cheshire to Buxton in Derbyshire road –
known as the Cat and Fiddle pass through the Peak District (496
deaths or serious injuries per one billion vehicle km). The organisation
behind the road ratings idea is the European Road Assessment Programme
(EuroRAP), which aims to do for road improvements what the European
New Car Assessment Programme has done to improve car design.
Almost two years ago, the AA-led EuroRAP identified Britain’s
“killer” roads, and a further 2,000 in the Netherlands,
Sweden and Spain. Work is continuing in those countries and in
other European countries to help the European Union in its aim
to halve the current 40,000 death toll on the continent’s
roads by 2010.
EuroRAP says the statistics enable highways authorities and engineers
to compare similar roads and identify the “hidden killers”
among them. It is claimed that often simple improvements to those
stretches that perform worse than average could save 2,400 people
in Britain from death or serious injury each year – equivalent
to more than a third of fatal and serious accidents that happen
on these roads.
Initially, roads were rated according to a four-star system with
23 roads seeing so many accidents they were given no stars; 90 roads
were given one star, 213 roads two stars, 415 three stars and 92
roads the top four stars. An average road scores two to three stars.
Since launch, modifications to the index now mean that the “roads
from hell” are identified as “high risk”, “medium-high
risk”, “medium risk”, “low-medium risk”
and “low risk”. The most dangerous roads are defined
as those that have seen more than 180 fatal or serious accidents
per one billion vehicle km and “low risk” roads those
that have seen fewer than 15 fatal or serious accidents per one
billion vehicle km.
Log on to www.eurorap.org
and there is a map that shows the risk rates in full for Britain’s
roads. EuroRAP’s work covered primary A-class roads outside
built-up areas, many of which are single carriageways, and motorways.
It covered a total of 14,000 miles, where there were 20,000 fatal
and serious injuries over the three-year period covered.
Since the initial survey was carried out, engineers have made
safety-related improvements to some of the roads. Recently it
was claimed that at least 20 lives and 180 serious injuries had
been saved in two years on 13 roads identified by the latest research
as the most improved in Britain. Latest figures from the Department
for Transport show that in 2002, a total of 3,431 people were
killed on Britain’s roads and 35,976 people seriously injured
– a combined total which is 17% below the 1994-98 average.
The four major killers are: head-on crashes; accidents at junctions:
collisions with vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists;
and vehicles hitting objects at the side of the road. In the UK,
500 people die hitting trees, lampposts, signs and other roadside
hazards.
About one in seven fatal and serious accidents on Britain’s
primary road network – which accounts for 6% of Britain’s
road length but has about 40% of the fatal road accidents –
are head-on collisions, one in seven are single vehicle run-offs,
one in three occur at junctions and one in seven involve pedestrians
or cyclists.
Unlike motorways, generally the safest roads, A-roads present drivers
with a wide variety of hazards – trees and lampposts sited
close to the carriageway edge, and junctions where simple driver
misjudgements can lead to brutal side impacts.
|
| “Unlike motorways, generally
the safest roads, A-roads present drivers with a wide
variety of hazards” |
|
Why are motorways, Britain’s fastest roads, its safest? Engineers
will say that they are designed to be forgiving at the 70 mph speed
limit and to cushion impacts if things go wrong. For example, split-level
junctions ensure that if vehicles collide at junctions then they
are at least travelling in the same direction; rigid objects at
the side of the road are protected by safety fencing; traffic travelling
in opposite directions is separated by a safety fence; and pedestrians
are separated from fast-moving traffic.
By comparison, single carriage roads, particularly in rural areas,
offer little or no protection, says EuroRAP. John Dawson, EuroRAP
chairman and AA policy director, says: “We have to make roads
more forgiving – everyday human error shouldn’t carry
a death sentence. People should not be dying on major routes because
basic protection is absent from entirely predictable collisions,
such as with unfenced roadside objects.
“The Euro NCAP car crash test programme has done wonders for
car occupant safety in a few short years, but we have some major
roads which fall so far short of known safe design that they give
little margin for survival in the event of a simple driver error,
whatever car you’re in. “We cannot demand five-star
cars from manufacturers and then settle for one-star roads. The
cars we drive, the way we drive and the roads we drive them on are
all part of a single safety system.”
 |
|
| Winding country lanes
may be picturesque, but they hold hidden dangers |
Ironically, EuroRAP – research for which is undertaken by
the AA Foundation for Road Safety Research assisted by the Transport
Research Laboratory – claims road deaths are cheap to avoid.
Typical costs for road safety measures are: crash barriers at £100,000
per km (cheaper per km for longer stretches); white lines at £1
per m; pedestrian refuges at £2,000; safety improvements on
a bend at £10,000 (anti-skid surface, improved signs, new
road markings etc); converting a four-way junction into a large
roundabout at £500,000; speed cameras at £25,000.
However, a survey carried out last year of accident prevention experts
at councils across the country revealed that nearly all believe
they could save many lives a year on the roads for less than £100,000
a time – but most didn’t have either the money or the
skilled staff.
EuroRAP says the figure is in stark contrast to the £10m earmarked
for every life saved on the railways and the £1.2m the Government
says it costs society for every road death.
|
| “It’s not an exaggeration
to say that, with every month that goes by without improvement,
people will die who could have been saved” |
|
Mr Dawson says: “It is totally unacceptable that we are seeing
people die or suffer serious injuries every year on the UK roads
for want of these relatively tiny sums of money.”
Many of the above measures have been used on the 13 roads now dubbed
as the most improved in Britain, after the accident toll of 200
deaths and serious injuries per year was at least halved.
Following the original survey, a second EuroRAP study not only highlighted
Britain’s most improved roads, but also identified a further
21 as “persistently high risk roads”, having seen at
least one person per mile killed or seriously injured over three
years. However, EuroRAP admits that many of these roads have already
benefited from engineering changes, but it will be another two years
before their effectiveness can be assessed.
Mr Dawson says: “It is in the national interest that we apply
the lessons from this work to every problem road identified. Drivers
clearly have a responsibility to drive sensibly, but a moment’s
inattention should not carry the death sentence.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that, with every month that
goes by without improvement, people will die who should and could
have been saved. It’s daft economics not to invest in schemes
that pay back their costs 20 times over.”
|
| “From 1999-2001, there
were 3,172 single vehicle run-off accidents involving
death or serious injury on Britain’s primary roads” |
|
Now EuroRAP wants similar initiatives to be applied on all 370 British
roads identified as posing a higher-than-average risk to people
using them. Mr Dawson says: “It’s easy to forget the
true death toll on the roads because the accidents are scattered
and usually involve only one or two people. Yet there are many people
alive today thanks to the relatively inexpensive changes made on
the roads we have identified.”
When people die in a rail crash, it generates national headlines
for days. Mr Dawson says: “It’s absolutely right that
billions of pounds are being spent on railway safety, which works
out at around £10m for every life saved.
“But we can save hundreds more people every year on the roads
for just a fraction of that and deliver massive savings to the NHS
into the bargain.” The risk rate league table for the 833
British roads assessed was published in 2002 and based on accidents
between 1997 and 1999. The latest study, published in September
2003, looked at how those roads performed between 1999-2001.
How simple engineering is saving lives
Head-ons
From 1999-2001 there were 2,784 head-on accidents involving
death or serious injury on Britain’s primary roads.
Central barriers keep traffic separated. Clear road markings
warn drivers of impending hazards. Speed restriction with
cameras and warning signs reduce these and other kinds of
accidents. Fixed speed cameras, mobile speed cameras and enforcement
signs have been used on three of Britain’s most improved
roads, two of which now also operate helicopter patrols*.
Enhanced road markings have been put on the:
A684 A56-A646 Burnley
Speed cameras and enforcement have been used on the:
A6 Leicester-Derby*
A523 Macclesfield-Hazel Grove*
A75 Gretna Green-Dumfries
Run-offs
From 1999-2001, there were 3,172 single vehicle run-off accidents
involving death or serious injury on Britain’s primary
roads. Bends that are not clearly marked, poor skid-resistance
surfacing and missing road studs can contribute substantially.
An unfenced object close to the road is a death trap if hit
at 50 mph.
Safety barriers have been installed on the:
A6 Leicester-Derby
A523 Macclesfield-Hazel Grove
Improved warning signs and road markings have been put in
on the:
A6 Leicester-Derby
A523 Macclesfield-Hazel grove
A684 A56-A646 Burnley
Junctions
From 1999-2001, there were 7,017 brutal side impacts and other
accidents that involved death and serious injury at junctions
on Britain’s primary roads. Roundabouts reduce speeds
and deflect traffic so that colliding vehicles meet with glancing
blows and injuries are much reduced. Britain, more than many
European countries, needs to concentrate on junction improvements.
Split-level junctions have been constructed on the:
A90 Dundee-Aberdeen
A299 Faversham-A253
A roundabout has been put in on the:
A638 Adwick Le Street-Crofton
A12 Lowestoft-Great Yarmouth
Pedestrians
From 1999-2001 there were 2,831 accidents involving death
or serious injury to pedestrians or cyclists on Britain’s
primary roads. Pedestrian refuges and guard railing at junctions
control where and how pedestrians cross the road and form
a safety barrier separating vulnerable individuals from traffic.
In the same way, wide footpaths allow pedestrians to walk
beside the road, well away from moving vehicles. Allocated
cycle lanes allow pedal cyclists to ride on the road away
from pedestrians and reduce the need for them to enter the
main flow of traffic.
Pedestrian refuges have been constructed on the:
A6 Leicester-Derby
A523 Macclesfield-Hazel Grove
Pedestrian guard railing has been put in on the:
A12 Lowestoft-Great Yarmouth |
|
|
|
