Skip to main content

Report highlights cost effectiveness of crash reduction strategy

Local authorities in the UK needs an immediate injection of £200 million to tackle the high risk road sections, according to a new report from the Road Safety Foundation charity and Ageas UK. Called Cutting the Cost of Dangerous Roads, the report reveals that UK motorways and ‘A’ roads on the EuroRAP network make up 10% of the road network that contains half of all road deaths. It found that single carriageway ‘A’ roads have a risk factor seven times higher than motorways and nearly three times that of d
November 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Local authorities in the UK needs an immediate injection of £200 million to tackle the high risk road sections, according to a new report from the 776 Road Safety Foundation charity and Ageas UK.


Called Cutting the Cost of Dangerous Roads, the report reveals that UK motorways and ‘A’ roads on the EuroRAP network make up 10% of the road network that contains half of all road deaths. It found that single carriageway ‘A’ roads have a risk factor seven times higher than motorways and nearly three times that of dual carriageway ‘A’ roads while ‘high risk’ single carriageway roads are 67 times more risky than their low risk counterparts.

It identifies the most dangerous roads and says fatal and serious crashes on 10 ‘most improved roads’ roads was reduced by 74% (from 145 to 37) with an annual economic saving of £17m, or £149,000 per kilometre. The top six roads recorded reductions of 75% or above by implementing measures including reducing speed limits and improving enforcement, revised road markings and signage, increased lighting and resurfacing.

The largest single cause of death on the network was identified as run-off road crashes (30%) while crashes at junctions accounted for 30% of serious injury on the network. The report comes against a background of a 4% increase in road deaths (1,730 in 2015 to 1,792 in 2016) with half occurring on non-built-up roads (5% on motorways).

Related Content

  • April 18, 2012
    New study on car scrappage schemes
    Car fleet renewal schemes (cash for clunkers/car scrappage) introduced in the US, France and Germany fell short of their potential to deliver on environmental and safety objectives, according to a new report published by the International Transport Forum at the OECD and the FIA Foundation today.
  • April 20, 2012
    EU road fatalities fall by 11% in 2010
    The European Commission has published new statistics showing that EU road fatalities decreased by 11 per cent in 2010. However, country by country statistics show that the number of deaths still varies greatly across the EU. Most countries achieved double-digit reductions in the number of road deaths over the past year, including Luxembourg (33%), Malta (29%) Sweden (26%) and Slovakia (26%).
  • February 2, 2012
    Need for balance on UK speed enforcement funding cuts
    Trevor Ellis, Chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the implications of the UK Government's decision to withdraw funding for road safety camera partnerships
  • June 15, 2017
    Increase in Scotland’s road deaths ‘deeply troubling’, says Brake
    Transport Scotland has released provisional headline figures for road casualties reported to the police in Scotland in 2016, showing 191 people were killed in reported accidents in 2016 - 23 more than in 2015.