Motorists are seven times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on an A-road than on a motorway, a new report from the Road Safety Foundation has found.
The study also found sharp regional variations in the risks posed to drivers with the East Midlands being revealed as the most dangerous part of the country. By contrast, the neighbouring West Midlands was deemed to have the safest roads.
The most improved region was the East of England, which has seen a 30 per cent fall in risk.
The main crash type causing death is running off the road, with 30 per cent of all deaths caused in this way. Accidents at junctions, meanwhile, are the accidents most likely to lead to serious injury.
Just over a fifth of all fatal and serious crashes on A-roads involved pedestrians and cyclists and a further 10 per cent of these accidents were head-on collisions involving two cars.
The study examined British motorways and A-roads outside major urban areas. While these roads make up just 11 per cent of the road network, they account for 51 per cent of the country's road deaths.
It is estimated that over the past five years serious crashes on British motorways have cost the country £1.9 billion and crashes on A-roads a further £8.4 billion.
Dr Steve Lawson, director of the Road Safety Foundation said: "Most recent improvement in road safety has come from car design and safer driving.
"The specification that authorities currently set road managers is to reduce crash rates in general.
"That approach is too weak and must be replaced, because it muddles factors over which road managers have no control -- such as car safety, hospital care and traffic levels -- with factors very definitely under their control such as roadside safety barriers or junction layouts."
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