A trunk road which runs through south Shropshire has been named as the third most dangerous in the region with hundreds of accidents in the last five years.
The Highways Agency has released accident data for all of the region’s major roads, with one of the main routes through the county among the worst for smashes.
West Mercia Police figures show there were 662 accidents on the A49, with 21 people killed.
Ludlow MP Philip Dunne said: “The A49 has been the scene of far too many fatal and serious accidents, including the loss of two talented youngsters from Craven Arms earlier this month.
“The road is particularly dangerous as it passes through the constituency from south of Church Stretton to south of Ludlow.”
Martin Withington, Shropshire County Council’s group manager for transport planning and road safety, said: “Although the Highways Agency is responsible for the A49 south of Shrewsbury we hold regular liaison meetings to highlight improvements that we believe will help to ensure the safety of road users.
“We also work with local communities and parish councils to understand local concerns on road safety.
“We forward these concerns to the Highways Agency and if necessary we lobby for these improvements to be made.
“We also work to prevent road accidents through education, training and publicity. In addition to our own programme of work we also deliver education, training and publicity initiatives in partnership with other agencies, including the Highways Agency, the Fire and Rescue Service, West Mercia Police and the Safer Roads Partnership.”
16 Comments
It’s people that cause accidents not the roads,if everybody drove to the conditions and their abilities,then we would all get to our destinations.
it’s not the road that is dangerous, it’s the drivers.
no suprise, ive been saying that for years it needs dualing where poss
There is no such thing as a dangerous road, just drivers that are dangerous to themselves and other road users either through inexperience, or lack of awareness.
I’m sure that the current practical driving test differs little from that when I passed some 21 years ago. The vast majority of the route was in urban areas and 30 / 40 limits. Doesn’t really test ones skills on challenging NSL trunk roads does it? Also, it’s high time that M-Way driving was included in driving test.
Spatial awareness, observation - both forward and peripheral, and forward planning are great assets in a drivers armoury and should be taught at inception, not learned “as you go along” after passing ones test. I doubt if many learners are taught C.O.A.S.T. theory, or shown the basics of “observational links”.
The A49 isn’t dangerous in itself, it’s how people drive on it that’s the cause of accidents.
With over 40 years of driving experience, and well over 800.000 miles travelled in the UK and abroad, I’m totally with Spindrift on this one.
We have been here before on the subject of driving, (see speed cameras + sat nav).
A road CANNOT be dangerous. A Road is a benign stretch of concrete and surfacing and in some cases will require more driving “skill” to safely negotiate in some parts relative to others.
The point being “made” here is there are more accidents than “elsewhere” on this particular road, and that can only mean that:
statistically,
IF the general driving standard is low, AND if the A49 presents more driving “challenges”, THEN more incidents are going to occur on this road.
So - what is the logical answer to this ?
Improve driver skills !
And can I ask again … where is the Institute of advanced motorists (IAM) in all this ??
Their last article in the S/Star was about driving in floods! Good grief! How’s that for encouraging Mr average motorist to improve his driving skill under general road conditions?
What if we saw some more interesting talk from the IAM in these articles along the lines that spindrift has mentioned?
there should be better facilities for cyclist and pedestrians all over our rural areas, bayston hill, is one example the cross houses to shrewsbury road another, where you must risk death to use sustainable transport, not good
its this move towards americanised out of town shopping malls and a car culture that is the problem, like in meole, you wouldnt realistically walk there, would you, its all about the motorist and as such there is limited space left for pavements walkways etc, what we need is a pedestrianised town centre, with decent parking facilities, and on the road, wide roads with cycle lanes all along them, proper seperation between motorist and pedestrian, to keep all safe and well
Yes the roads very busy, yes it’s twisting in places and visibility is limited in places but hey, it’s only a road. Driver awareness, both in front and behind is what’s needed when driving roads like this but what will the answer be from the authorities…speed restrictions and cameras.
I drove the roads of Shropshire & North Wales as a Refrigeration Service Mechanic for many miles 45 years ago. You have at least 5 times the traffic volume today!
SPEED is the danger. Get VERY SERIOUS about about a 60 klm speed limit on roads with accident records. Wiggy
i agree this road IS dangerous, it should be straightened where possible, and dual as much as possible, the cycle routes should be encourage AWAY from this route NOT having a cycle lane next to a main road as this is dangerous, also the big villages like Hereford, Bayston Hill and Dorrington, should be by passed, even Ludlow is bypassed, why can’t Hereford have a much needed by pass??
I’m surprised that no-one has identified one of the major hazards of the A49, it’s not so much about the cars as the volume of HGV traffic that uses it.
Untill a couple of years ago I used the road daily both for the commute to work in Shrewsbury (from CS area) and for work as well. After driving on it for the best part of 15 years I was glad that I wouldn’t have to do the drive anymore. It can be hellish, especially when there’s one of the ever present set of roadworks with the obligitory traffic lights in place.
The only way that the safety record of this road could be improved is by going with the scheme of turning it into a dual carriageway from Shrewsbury down to Hereford.
i think where they have improved dobies island this is uch less congested and safer for pedestrains now however the lane markings are an accident waiting to happen, as you go round the lanes, they all merge willy nilly and its very scary, also the traffic light timings are so quick, you often get a green and yet the other lanes are still flowing, is this just me, i’d be keen to hear if others agree, its great the Highways Agency have finally done something, dont get me wrong but I still fear for my life every time on this very busy island
It’s idiots like the one I saw this morning who cause the problems - a driver obviously in a hurry, deciding to overtake at the approach to a cross roads coming up to the brow of a hill when there was a car coming in the other direction. Another accident narrowly averted because the oncoming driver had the sense to slow right down for the madman overtaking in an inappropriate way.
Big villages like “Hereford”? Surely that’s a city, not a village?
I blame it all on older drivers driving too slowly on A49 hence causing people to try to overtake in dangerous situations.
Inappropriate driving speeds, whether too fast OR too slow for the road and conditions are a big factor in causing people to take risks and cause accidents, but not just older people.
This school holiday period has led to a lot of people driving around without paying attention or signaling/looking in their mirrors and of course accidents have happened.
As many others have said before it’s inconsiderate,inexperienced or careless drivers that cause accidents not the road.