A new lobby group has been formed by some of the country’s most influential motoring associations to campaign for improvements to Britain’s most dangerous roads.

The new group – the Campaign for Safe Road Design – was created by associations, including the AA, the RAC Foundation, Roadsafe and the Road Safety Foundation, following publication of a report that found that 30% of primary roads are unsafe, while a quarter of British motorways fall outside safest band.

At the group’s launch, Adrian Walsh, a director of Roadsafe, which promotes occupational road risk management to businesses, said: “Britain’s at-work drivers should be travelling along a five-star road system and not one that leaves them in danger of crashing with horrific consequences.”

The new lobby group will push for proactive road safety measures to be taken on Britain’s most dangerous roads.

“More fleets are engaging in implementing best practice occupational road risk management which is giving us more five-star drivers.
“Now we want five-star roads,” said Mr Walsh.

“Companies are involving a growing number of their at-work drivers in workshops and on-the-road training to reduce their risk exposure.
“Now it is time for the government to put its hand in its pocket and increase the amount of money spent on local road safety schemes.”

According to the report by EuroRAP – the European Road Assessment Programme – an eight-mile stretch of the A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton is the UK’s most dangerous road.


The single-carriageway road has been the scene of 43 fatal or serious collisions since 2001, nearly three-quarters of them involving motorcyclists.

The most dangerous road for car and van drivers is the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield.

The country’s highest risk roads are concentrated in the north of England and the midlands.

“The majority of road authorities this year identified the need for significant funding for road safety improvements and maintenance of existing roads as the one thing which would make the biggest difference to reducing fatal or serious collisions on sections within their area,” said Dr Joanne Hill who heads the Road Safety Foundation, which carried out the research.

The report found that, although there has been an 18% overall drop in risk across the motorway and main road network in the past three years, the rating of motorways and the primary route network still causes major concern.

“Thirty per cent of the primary A road sections do not achieve even the top two safest risk bands that we would expect as the minimum safety level for these strategic roads,” said Dr Hill.

“Also, 24% of motorway sections fall outside the safest risk band.”