Motorcyclists still at high risk of accidents, AA reports

Britain's roads are getting safer, the AA Motoring Trust has announced, however motorcyclists are still at risk of serious injury and death.

The report, EuroRAP 2005: British Results, analyses data from 850 main roads. It found that a 'mini massacre' of motorcyclists on some rural main roads was continuing to undermine the significant safety improvements that were being made.

The report found that Britain's most high risk road – the A537 from Buxton to Macclesfield – would actually be one of the country's safest roads if there were no motorcycle accidents.

However, the report found that safety on British roads is improving and the risk of death or serious injury on UK roads is now one of the lowest in Europe. The AA Motoring Trust found that the number of roads rated as high or medium risk for death and serious injury had fallen by almost 30% since 2002.

However, the report also found that the highest risk roads were ten times more dangerous than the safest roads and that on the most dangerous stretches of road, one person – and as many as seven – is killed or seriously injured for every mile over the three year measurement period.

Sixty percent of road deaths (over 70% in Scotland) were found to have occurred outside built-up areas, mostly on single carriageway roads. The Trust said that if safety on these roads improved to just the average safety rating, more than 200 lives would be saved every year.

The report said that the most high-risk roads tended to be single carriageway roads running through rural, often hilly, areas such as the Peak District.

The Trust's report made a number of recommendations for reducing fatal and serious collisions, including installing crash barriers, realigning junctions, improving white lining and traffic signing and achieving speed compliance on high risk roads by using methods such as vehicle-activated speed limit signs and highly visible speed cameras.

Bert Morris, Director of the AA Motoring Trust says: "We now know the roads where deaths and serious injuries are routine and predictable. Our analysis highlights where resources can be targeted to save most lives. 'Big-wins' in road safety, such as compulsory seatbelt wearing or changing attitudes to drink driving have saved thousands of lives."

He added: "The report shows how relatively simple road-engineering solutions, together with speed compliance technology, on 'unforgiving' roads could also slash the death toll on British roads. All roads can be made much safer for the great majority of responsible road users."

(KMcA/SP)