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From today's "Telegraph":

Road death risk among lowest in Europe
By Helen Johnstone
(Filed: 09/03/2005)

British roads are becoming safer and the risk of death or serious injury is one of the lowest in Europe, the AA Motoring Trust states.

If roads with above-average risk rates improved to just the average safety rating more than 200 lives would be saved every year.

A trust report also stated that Britain's highest-risk roads were 10 times more dangerous than the safest and on the most dangerous stretches of road, between one and seven people were killed or seriously injured per mile over a three-year period.

In England and Wales, 60 per cent of road deaths occurred on inter-urban roads. In Scotland, more than 70 per cent of deaths were on roads outside built-up areas even although most people lived in the densely-populated central belt between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The safest roads were motorways which have the highest speed limit. On average, they were about four times safer than single carriageways.

High-risk roads were typically single carriageway and running through rural, often hilly, areas, such as the Derbyshire Peak District.

Dual carriageways, even those with junctions, were found to be twice as safe as single carriageways.

Sweden, Britain and the Netherlands had the safest roads in Europe, essentially because they had the best seat belt-wearing rates, the lowest drink-drive rates and because traffic laws were vigorously enforced.

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Not too sure about the last bit, but it does underline the safety benefits from improving roads in general and in particular dualling busy single carriageway main roads.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Things have been slipping the past couple of years though. Fatalities on the increase...wonder why

What p*sses me off is the mis-use of statistics. Europe has committed to reducing casualties by 40% by 2010. This includes the UK. If France hit their target they would still no be on a par with us now.

So why don't Europe look at the UK (pre-camera) and use it as a model rather than all this techno-policing that they are trying to push.

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Speed camera policy Kills

The answer is a single word:

Revenue

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!