Britain's killer highways revealed in chilling new accident road map

The single-lane road is only seven miles long, but sees an average of more than 10 fatal or serious accidents a year.

• New map rates the risk level of Britain's busiest roads by colour
• It was compiled by the Road Safety Foundation and EuroRAP
• Statistics also show that single carriageway A-roads are the most dangerous to drive on
• The winding A537 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, was rated the most dangerous in the country
• It saw 44 fatal or serious crashes in just four years
  

The most dangerous killer highways in Britain are revealed today in a chilling new accident road-map of Britain.

The study, which colour-codes roads according to their level of risk, also reveals that drivers are now seven times more likely to crash on an A-road than a motorway.

That risk has risen significantly from a six-fold gap just four years earlier.

Travel on a single-carriageway is also three times riskier than on a dual carriageway, according to the study.

Twenty-four people were killed or seriously injured there in each four-year period.

The dangers for drivers on A-roads away from urban areas have been highlighted in a Road Safety Foundation survey which gives a risk rating to every road in the country.

Some 1,754 people were killed on Britain’s roads in 2012.

But on average, 4 people are killed or seriously injured on each mile of motorway and A roads outside major urban areas each decade.

Motorcyclists make up just 1per cent of traffic but one in five (21per cent) of fatal and serious crashes on Britain’s motorways and A roads.

The report shows 'the dominance of crashes at junctions leading to serious trauma and of death from running off the road.’

But it also highlights improvements which could reduce the carnage including removing roadside hazards such as trees, rigid poles or lighting columns and introducing interactive warning signs, anti-skid surfacing and road studs.

At junctions, crash risks could be reduced by speed limits better suited to the conditions, improved road layout and  signing, and by resurfacing roads with high-friction treatments to reduce skidding.

Danger zone: The A537 and A5012, shown on the map in black, are the two most dangerous stretches of road in Britain