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Danger roads rated

Ratings reveal UK danger roads

New star ratings for roads, similar to the Euro NCAP vehicle crash tests, will soon let motorists check the safest route to their destination.

Road sign

17th December 2007

The ranking, which awards stars from one (worst) to four (best), will highlight the motorways and dual or single carriageway roads where drivers are most at risk of having a serious or even fatal accident.

The European Road Assessment Programme (Euro RAP) has so far checked about a third of the UK network (4,300 miles). But it’s already slated 40 per cent of the A-roads as being ‘inadequate’, with no better than two-star standards. Only 11 per cent made the top four-star grade, also achieved by half the motorway network studied.

Ditches, trees, bollards and other physical barriers are among the risk factors that were meticulously recor­ded by Euro RAP to calculate each road’s score. Ratings for junction layout, how well lanes are separated and roadside run-off areas also contributed to the final total.

The organisation says this data is designed to improve the network and steer drivers in the safest direction. But Euro RAP claims the star system could also be added to digital maps used by sat-nav makers, providing motorists with the option of avoiding the most dangerous routes.

Its spokesman explained - “Giving sat-nav users the chance to select the safety of the roads they want to drive on is something we would like to see in the future.” Euro RAP, which conducted the evaluation with the assistance of the Highways Agency and the IAM Motoring Trust, says the remainder of the UK road network will be rated in 2008.

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Extra Info

Hits and misses of the network

Motorways
Four stars - M62 (J30-J33)
Three stars - M3 (J3-J5)
Two stars - None
One star - None

A-roads
Four stars - A720 (Edinburgh city bypass)
Three stars - A1 (Peterborough to Stamford)
Two stars - A59 (Skipton to Harrogate)
One star - A4 (west of Reading)

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