http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/news/Scots-roads-named-most-dangerous.6390819.jp
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"Scots roads named most dangerous in Britain"
(21 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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Without knowing the methodology it's difficult to know what this means.
vehicles crashing off the road
I guess this means people going to fast for the conditions and not making it round a bend.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Scots
roadsdrivers named most dangerous in Britain?That's a headline they'd never print.
Can hear the calls of 'unfair' at the very suggestion.
Easier just to blame the road....
Posted 13 years ago # -
I believe Mr LaidBack may have struck the nail firmly on the head.
Posted 13 years ago # -
A stretch of the A720 near Dreghorn was resurfaced several months ago because of poor drainage and tarmac porosity, leading to low tyre adhesion and loss of braking. Was that a genuine road fault, or could it still be argued that drivers were failing to leave adequate stopping distances to the vehicles in front? A road can be intrinsically dangerous should an accident occur - which for example is why motorcycle action groups have been calling for safety barriers that don't use decapitative steel cables.
The A9, to pick one at random, isn't dangerous by itself, if speed is 'appropriate', but can be made more dangerous with the combination of hazards like stone walls and deposits of fuels, which will occur more frequently on corners simply because there are more of them per mile. It's just as easy to have an accident on a diesel spill at 20mph as it is at 60mph, although the magnitude of potential harm is different.
Factors such as poor sightlines are as much a design fault of the road as they are a hazard to be anticipated. Some motorists will simply 'slow the hell down' in time, and some will play fast and loose - either getting it right or getting it wrong.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Has anyone read Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Traffic-drive-what-says-about/dp/0713999314
I've recently finished it and found it an interesting read. It contains a veritable smorgasbord of references to various traffic studies. It's mainly targetted towards car traffic and has a bit of an American slant to it but there is lots of interest towars cyclists too.
I'd recommend it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I believe Mr LaidBack may have struck the nail firmly on the head.
Just heard someone on radio 'justifying' the tag of dangerous roads. She sounded very reasonable.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Analysis of road traffic "accidents" has repeatedly shown that over 90% of "accidents" are caused by driver error.
What is a "safe" road anyway?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Lies damned lies and statistics....
I note the Cat and Fiddle (Derbyshire) features again, but the main problem there is a combination of a difficult/poorly laid out (from a safety point of view) road which has become *the* place to thrash your large sportsbike at the weekend.
As with all things, some roads are deceptive/poorly laid out, or "dangerous", some drivers are half wits on a good day, some places have other peculiarities (I wonder what the accident rate is for the Isle of Man during TT week...) such as a large number of foreign drivers leaving ferries or whatever. Often there can be a combination of factors.Statistics in isolation, as usual, whilst good for headlines and campaign groups, are mostly meaningless imho :-/
Posted 13 years ago # -
@ Kim "What is a "safe" road anyway? "
A motorway I'm told according to all the stats. Fewer crashes per mile travelled than any other class of road (swmbo works in road design).
(Although the opposite could be claimed to be examples such as the M8 in Glasgow where a slip road joins the right hand or overtaking lane!!)Posted 13 years ago # -
@Smudge - Glasgow Roads scare the snot out of me at any time... I avoid them at all costs and take the train instead
Posted 13 years ago # -
It is odd how the AA (who are behind the "Road Safety Foundation") and the likes are so against firmer enforcement of the laws on driving, ie increased use of speed cameras and taking drivers licences away, but are keen to emphasise the "good economic returns" of road safety when it suits them to blame someone else. "Too often we pay for emergency services, hospitals and care for the disabled rather than taking easy steps to
put road design faults right" crack down on bad driving!!Posted 13 years ago # -
Well I'm an IAM member and for example I'd impose (real) lifetime bans for death by dangerous driving and anyone who is done for drink driving twice, and 6 months minimum jail if you drive without a valid licence..
It's about time we started permanently removing licences instead of just token temporary bans. *Maybe I'm the odd one out who proves the rule though ;-)
*all imho and hopefully without sounding TOO right wing!!
Posted 13 years ago # -
...Glasgow Roads scare the snot out of me at any time... I avoid them at all costs and take the train instead.
Whenever possible, I take the train with my bike to Glasgow in preference to driving, but for some odd reason I love the M8 westbound between J11 and J16 when it's busy and fast flowing. Actually, I've never driven beyond J16 because that's the exit for Bearsden.
Posted 13 years ago # -
OK, I read the report,
http://www.eurorap.org/library/pdfs/20100629-RSFreportweb_final.pdf
it looks like they used the number of incidents per vehicle using the road. This would make motorways look good so somewhere with few motorways would do badly. We don't even have motorway from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
I couldn't find any Scottish roads in the listed baddies apart from the one listed as worst in Scotland.
From what I remember of cycling round the highlands, BC*, there were lots of non UK cars and motorbikes which might not help the stats.
Scotland is reported as a region. The report was prepared by the Road Safety Foundation, a spin off from the AA.
* Before Children. Now I have to go to places like Legoland
Posted 13 years ago # -
"We don't even have motorway from Edinburgh to Glasgow."
M8? Or do you mean we don't have one all* the way?Posted 13 years ago # -
The A889 between Dalwhinne and Laggan was named as Britain's most dangerous road back in 2002.
After the report came out lots of chevrons and Slow signs appeared along its length and it was widened in places too.
I believe these fairly simple measures did have a positive effect on the death/injury rate.Posted 13 years ago # -
Well yes, it's A8 between Baillieston and Newhouse.
I can and have cycled along that section.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Honestly, the only time I felt remotely unsafe cycling in Scotland was when my American traffic brain sent me wheeling through a roundabout in reverse.
Well, ok, there was also that time I made the American-style left hand turn into oncoming traffic.
And then there was that windy street in Edinburgh next to my B&B that I inexplicably ended up traversing in reverse.
Ok. Never mind. The roads of Scotland are horribly dangerous, but only if you are a North American rider suffering from cognitive dissonance. Otherwise, I felt far safer on the roads of Caledonia than I ever have at home.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Honestly, the only time I felt remotely unsafe cycling in Scotland was when my American traffic brain sent me wheeling through a roundabout in reverse.
Not at the top of leith walk about a month ago?
Posted 13 years ago # -
*Sigh* Unfortunately not. My visit to Edinburgh was longer ago than that, and getting more distant daily.
You have no idea how much I would like to be able to take a roundabout completely backwards again.
Posted 13 years ago #
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