Hints & Tips
Britain's Most Hazardous Roads
In February 2002, the A889, near Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands, was named "Britain's most dangerous road" by the European Road Assessment Programme (RAP). EuroRAP gave safety "star ratings" to over 800 roads in the UK and 2,000 others in Europe. This research allows us to compare some of the most dangerous roads and pinpoint which of them are the worst.
In 2002 the league table looked like this:
- A889 - A86-A9 (near Dalwhinnie)
- A537 - Macclesfield-Buxton
- A12 - Romford-M25
- A4137 - A49-A40 (west of Ross-on-Wye)
- A628 - A616-Penistone
- A1001 - Hatfield
- A534 - Welsh boundary to Nantwich
- A533 - Runcorn-A56
- A682 - M65 Junction 13 - A65 Long Preston
- A13 (now A1306) - Aveley A1306-M25
In 2005 the AA's own investigation named 5 of Britain's most dangerous roads as:
- A682 Lancaster and North Yorkshire Border
- 54 fatal/serious collisions between 1988 and 2003
- 36% of which were head-on collisions
- A54 Congleton to Buxton
- 37 serious/fatal collisions between 1988 and 2003
- 35% of which were caused by vehicles running off the road
- A84 Central Scotland
- 67 serious/fatal collisions between 1988 and 2003
- 45% of which were head-on collisions
- A59 Skipton to Harrogate, North Yorkshire
- 81 serious/fatal collisions between 1988 and 2003
- 51% of which occurred at junctions
- A53 Leek to Buxton, Derbyshire Border
- 34 serious/fatal collisions between 1988 and 2003
- 50% of which were caused by vehicles running off the road
The latest study, taken by EuroRAP in June 2008, showed that their top 10 has changed drastically since 2001:
- A537 from Macclesfield to Buxton
- With almost 250 fatal or serious accidents for every billion kilometres travelled on it, it was awarded a 'black' rating - which states that you are 30 times more likely to die on this road, than on the majority of others.
- A99 Latheron to Wick road in Scotland
- There were a total of 209 accidents per billion kilometres.
- A495 Whitchurch to Welshampton road in Shropshire
- Had 170 collisions per billion kilometres.
- A61 Barnsley to Wakefield
- A259 Hastings to Eastbourne
- A53 Leek to Buxton
- A48 Chepstow to Gloucester
- A1065 Swaffham to Fakenham
- A688 Barnard Castle to the A68
- A5 Daventry-Rugby