Lethal roads marked in new map

Britain's most dangerous roads have been identified in an atlas designed to cut the death toll at accident blackspots.

The AA road map tells drivers about the riskiest, as well as the best, routes. Although Britain has the best safety record in Europe, about 3,400 people die on the country's roads each year.

Contrary to most drivers' assumptions that motorways are the most dangerous roads, the map classes them among the safest.

Most of the riskiest routes – classified according to the number of deaths and serious injuries for every billion kilometres driven in a particular section – are winding A-roads through hilly rural areas.

The map rates the most dangerous road as the A889 through the Scottish Highlands; its closest rival is the A537 "Cat and Fiddle" route in the Peak District. Some of the worst urban roads are the A12 from Romford to the M25, in Essex, and the A56 ring road around Runcorn, Cheshire.

The map's designers said yesterday that they aimed to warn drivers of the risks and to put pressure on the authorities to improve safety.

Bert Morris, the AA's policy manager, said the assumption that drivers were to blame for most accidents was changing; it was now accepted that vehicles and roads could be altered to save lives.

"There are bad drivers, but most of us are average drivers and we all make mistakes. You should not pay the death penalty for making a mistake," Mr Morris said. "If I am sober and driving properly but misread the road, come off, hit a tree and die, you have to ask why I misread the road and why there was no protection to stop me hitting the tree.

"This [map] is about ... educating people that different roads have different dangers. It will tell drivers what roads are dangerous, and politicians can ask what is being done to make them safer."

John Dawson, the AA's director of motoring policy, said there was no indication that drivers avoided roads with poor safety records. "Being a safe driver means being aware of how risk changes from one road to another and this map, for the first time, gives drivers that information."

Safety check - the ten most dangerous routes

A889 between the A86 and A9 near Dalwhinnie. Undulating and twisty road from the main north-south route to the turn for Western Isles.

A537 Macclesfield to Buxton. Known as the "Cat-and-Fiddle" pass, this route over the Peak District is popular with motorcyclists.

A12 suburban route from Romford to the M25. Often overloaded.

A4137 between the A49 and the A40 west of Ross-on-Wye. Main route from Hereford to south Wales.

A628 from the A616 to Penistone, South Yorkshire. A main east-west route over the north Peak District.

A1001 at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. An alternative link to the A1(M), providing access to Hatfield and links to St Albans and Welwyn.

A534 from the Welsh border to Nantwich in Cheshire. Heavily used as a cut-through to north Wales, avoiding Chester and the A5.

A533 around Runcorn, Cheshire. Part of ring road acting as route to the Mersey bridge, the A56 and the M56.

A682 from junction 13 of the M65 to the A65 at Long Preston, North Yorkshire. Hilly route along the Ribble Valley towards the Yorkshire Dales.

A5 from Daventry in Northamptonshire to Rugby in Warwickshire. Heavily used and running parallel to the M1.