Sadly, this list comes as no surprise,
TOP 10 DANGEROUS ROADS
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· A537 Macclesfield to Buxton – Cheshire/Derbyshire
· A5012 Pikehall to Matlock – Derbyshire
· A621 Baslow to Totley – Derbyshire/South Yorkshire
· A625 Calver to Sheffield – South Yorkshire
· A54 Congleton to Buxton – Derbyshire
· A581 Rufford to Chorley – Lancashire
· A5004 Whaley Bridge to Buxton – Derbyshire
· A675 Blackburn to Preston – Lancashire
· A61 Barnsley to Wakefield – South/West Yorkshire
· A285 Chichester to Petworth – West Sussex
Source: Road Safety Foundation
I’ve bloged about the topic before, its nothing new
The report said the A537 through the Peak District, known as the Cat and Fiddle, had severe bends, steep falls from the carriageway and was edged by dry-stone walls or rock face for almost all its length.
Stone walls, rock face, bends, steep falls; I struggle with why anyone would want to drive such roads fast, but I know they do.
June 30, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Even reading the list makes me not want to drive those roads..and I’m safely here on the other side of the big pond!!!
June 30, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I’m not even slightly surprised that Scotland’s roads get a mention, considering some of the “stoaters” we’ve got to drive on. Including the A1, the main east coast route from Edinburgh to Newcastle and beyond. It switches randomly from dual to single carriageway, and explains why I prefer to take the train!
June 30, 2010 at 5:46 pm
I’ve driven on some of those roads in good weather when I was extra cautious and seen other drivers almost come to grief!
June 30, 2010 at 9:16 pm
hiya, yes, the cat and fiddle – its where the bikers come to have a razz i think. you wouldn’t catch me riding the four legged kind up around there! sara.
June 30, 2010 at 9:33 pm
And the two wheeled kind?
July 1, 2010 at 3:22 pm
There is of course no such thing as a dangerous road, only dangerous drivers.
By listing “dangerous roads”, therefore, this group is distracting attention from the real problem, namely that a lot of people drive carelessly and at speeds at which they are incapable of controlling a vehicle.
The same is true of the label “accident blackspot” which encourages “Bermuda Triangle thinking”, i.e. that there are places where mysterious forces conspire to harm innocent drivers.
People need to shed the idea that there are dangerous places and concentrate on the fact that there are dangerous drivers. Only by tackling that issue will we solve the problem.
July 2, 2010 at 2:48 pm
In my experience, there are roads that are inherently dangerous: poorly maintained, subject to icing, whiteouts, sandstorms, their lanes badly marked or added/deleted at a whim. If I am going to Boyne City in the summer, I have a choice of routes. If I am going there in the winter, there is only one road that I am willing to take. There are also drivers who are careless, tired, distracted or drunk. Mama Nature and human nature being what they are, we’ll probably never solve the problem, but we’ll only make headway by tackling both issues.
July 2, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I’m with Gerry on this one. Yes there are most certainly dangerous drivers, and avoiding them is something we have little control over, sadly, I’ve been close up and personal to the carnage of such an incident. Our local road with bad reputations are monitored and policed, the majority of fatalities are from accidents involving motor bikes, its a fact, not a vendetta against bikers. However there are other stretches of roads that catch the inexperienced and unwary. We noticed a lot of accidents on one stretch of road, at the time, between us Mr Uhdd and I were driving along this bit of road 6 times a day. I stopped to help at 2 accidents and we saw the debris, demolished walls and splintered trees to know many others were happening. I lobbied the council, the police, but nothing happened; more accidents, I tried again, police took it up with council; warning signs appeared ( the cynic in me tells me that was a backside covering gesture rather than addressing the problem.) By now I’d got my teeth into the cause, I lobbied the parish councils and the local press. Result! The road was resurfaced, no more accidents. (I’m proud to say this is the second stretch of road I’ve managed to get resurfaced!!) There are few surprises ‘accidents’ tend to happen in clusters, if you are ‘local’ and you choose to, you can see the patterns. It is a subject I’m willing to climb on a stack of soap boxes for!!
July 20, 2010 at 11:48 pm
> The report said the A537 through the Peak District, known
>as the Cat and Fiddle, had severe bends, steep falls from the
> carriageway and was edged by dry-stone walls or rock face
>for almost all its length.
‘The report said’? someone needs a report to tell them that? It’s one of my favourite roads, & I noticed all these things about 45 years ago…
July 21, 2010 at 4:16 pm
I hear there has been another tragedy this week.