Safety Rating England’s Trunk Road Network

A new study that can help make Britain’s roads the ‘safest in the world' found that two-thirds of English trunk road single carriageways rate just 2-stars.

The Road Safety Foundation study examined 95% of the 7 000 km Highways Agency (HA) network in England. The safety of the roads was assessed using EuroRAP Star Ratings that are part of the system being applied worldwide in efforts by leading authorities to make road infrastructure safer.

Four stars is the highest rating in the scale used by the Foundation, and 50% of the HA motorways achieved this. Three quarters (78%) of dual carriageways rate 3-stars. 

Dr Joanne Hill, Foundation Director, said: "Dual carriageways score well on head-on protection with 97% reaching the highest standard – but 90% fail to reach the highest standards for run-off protection. One in four roads feature junctions, lay-bys and minor access roads that do not afford the protection necessary for busy inter-urban roads, giving them low scores.

Dr Hill praised the HA for its openness and cooperation in the study. "The Agency has seen the benefit of this approach and how these results can help prevent the 2 000 deaths and serious injuries annually on its network," she says. "Importantly, the Agency is providing a lead to other road authorities in the UK and across Europe."

For more information, contact Jo Hill, Director, Road Safety Foundation at Jo.Hill@eurorap.org.