Most dangerous roads

CometGirl
CometGirl Posts: 2,681
edited June 2007 in Campaign
Are listed here.

Anybody ever cycled on any of them? They're mainly up north, so apart from the stretch on the A62, I've not tried them. Any tips for staying safe on them?

Comments

  • Jaded
    Jaded Posts: 6,663
    This page gives the number of crashes on each road.

    Pedestrians/cyclists are the top group in several of them.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6236636.stm

    --
    <font size="1">[Warning] This post may contain a baby elephant or traces of one</font id="size1">
  • CometGirl
    CometGirl Posts: 2,681
    Mainly on single carriageway roads. [B)]

    I know how to ride defensively in town. Is there anything you can do on fast, narrow roads other than hope for the best?
  • Flying_Monkey
    Flying_Monkey Posts: 8,708
    Tricky. The problem is that it's all too easy for people to drive off if they do knock you down too, as there are fewer witnesses. This does happen quite often - there was a case this weekend in Northumbria.

    There's a steatch of winding, up-and-down lane like this on my long commute - most drivers treat it like an opportunity to pretend they are driving in a rally - I've witnessed one accident and several near-misses between cars, usually because they drive in the middle of the road aroud blind corners.

    I find I just stay big and visible as normal and that seems to work.
    Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em
    That I got no cerebellum
    Gonna get my Ph.D.
    I'm a teenage lobotomy
    Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em
    That I got no cerebellum
  • gavintc
    gavintc Posts: 3,009
    I ride the 1079 from time to time, although I try to avoid it if possible. IMO, it is no worse than any other busy rural 2 lane A road. Part of the route forms the by-pass around Beverley and it is on this road that the Monday night TT is held. It can get a little scary at the acceleration / deceleration lanes. The local council have recently fitted a large number of cameras on the road.
  • The Endorser
    The Endorser Posts: 191
    It's not the roads that are dangerous - they couldn't care less. It's the t1ts that drive them that cause the danger.

    <i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>
    <i><b>Commute - you might even enjoy it!</b></i>
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by CometGirl</i>

    Are listed here.

    Anybody ever cycled on any of them? They're mainly up north, so apart from the stretch on the A62, I've not tried them. Any tips for staying safe on them?
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
    I rode the 200 km North-West Passage audax on February 17th this year and that goes up the A682, 'most dangerous road in the UK'. I'd heard of the reputation of the A682 but was prepared to see for myself. Here is part of an email I wrote to a friend about what I saw that day:


    "I thought the A682 was a nice road scenically, but I'm afraid that the traffic certainly lived up to its awful reputation... I personally saw some examples of stupid speeding, and reckless overtaking, but what I heard about later would take some beating. I turned left at Gisburn for my lanes route to Settle, to avoid further time on the A-roads. I spotted some toilets there so I stopped to refill one of my bottles. Just before I remounted, a group of about 6 fellow audaxers appeared - they had obviously decided to minimise time spent on the A-roads as well. One older guy was really agitated, and was cursing a farmer whose vehicle had just collided with him! Apparently, the farmer decided that it was perfectly okay to overtake on a blind bend. That was bad enough, but made far worse by the fact that he was towing a big livestock trailer with a cow in it. Suddenly a vehicle appeared from the opposite direction, so the farmer swerved left to avoid a head-on collision. His trailer side-swiped the old cyclist and pushed him off the road. Clearly, the outcome could have been much worse than the bruised arm he'd suffered. The group's combined shouts had no effect on the farmer who merely carried on his way as if nothing had happened..."

    So as far as I'm concerned, from what I saw and heard in just one ride - yes, due to the stupidity and/or death wishes of many of the drivers you may encounter there - the A682 can be a dodgy place to spend a Saturday morning!

    My safety tips:
    (1) Take an alternative route!
    (2) Drive a tank!


    A Miss is as good as a mile, especially if she cycles...
  • yenrodcp
    yenrodcp Posts: 9,991
    Ive seen m.cyclists trying to commit suicide on thse kind of roads ie mc revs off and just get in ahead of the car he was overtaking before a corner.

    They are though meant just by looking at these for a car. You can see that a year away.

    Angled chevrons, camera maybe and islands in the road cold easily be sorted to slow things down...?

    [;)] 'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]
    [;)] \'tuono nel mio cuore...[:)]
  • Pete Owens
    Pete Owens Posts: 62
    Most of the roads on the list owe their position to their popularity with motorcyclists.

    Pete
    Pete
  • Poppadoppaloppa Copper
    Poppadoppaloppa Copper Posts: 23
    <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Pete Owens</i>

    Most of the roads on the list owe their position to their popularity with motorcyclists.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
    Yeah. Bloody motorcyclists.
  • Tourist Tony
    Tourist Tony Posts: 8,628
    Bye bye.

    If I had a stalker, I would hug it and kiss it and call it George...or Dick
    If I had a stalker, I would hug it and kiss it and call it George...or Dick
    http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3 ... =3244&v=5K

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