A34 why so many accidents?!?

Associate
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So I live in Newbury and so very close to the A34
Now locally we get reports whenever there are incidents because then traffic colds through town - great fun

Now lately it gets shut daily at least in one direction because of accidents

Any other A-road as bad?!?
 
Soldato
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28 Jun 2013
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Yes in Wales there are death roads all over the place, i have met so many people who died in car / bike crashes on A and B roads.

It always feels like your driving into blind spots and blind corners with little time to react, and everyone rushing and tailgating non stop.
 
Soldato
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North Wales
The A55 up here in north Wales seems pretty terrible. It's pretty much the only way in or out and it's been especially bad this year with seemingly the whole world having a holiday up here. Plus there's sections where there isn't an alternative, you'd have to go a good 40 miles out of your way to avoid etc.

There seems to have been almost daily accidents during the weekends, it's at the stage now we actively avoid it unless we really have to go visit family as its just such a nightmare.
 

DRZ

DRZ

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In the top 1%
Relatively high speed, low capacity roads = accidents as traffic volume increases. The A34 in particular has a lot of HGV traffic and they cause a lot of lane changes, impatient behaviour etc etc. Couple that with the general ignorance and lack of forward planning evident from a huge number of drivers and you've got the perfect recipe for accidents.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
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18 Oct 2002
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Also very noticeable on the A34 in terms of traffic build-up as it is extremely busy, and is only a 4 lane dual carriageway with no hard shoulders. One single breakdown or minor incident between vehicles which would barely notice on a proper motorway, and it is carnage.
 
Man of Honour
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Everywhere seems bad last 2-3 years - barely a day goes past without a major accident on the A303, A30 or M5 around the area I live let alone the entirety of those roads.
 
Soldato
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They always like to blame "speeding", but poor road layouts are probably the biggest reason tbh. Especially the A14. Then everyone slaming the brakes on for speed cameras, while someone behind is watching their speedo and not the road...
 
Soldato
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Birmingham
Same reason for accidents on all roads: everyone is in a mad hurry to be somewhere else and has zero patience.

This coupled with:

Arrogance - "I'm in the right so I'm going to drive into you regardless of consequences"
and
Distractions - "My mobile phone/kids/make up is more important than controlling this 2 ton chunk of high-speed metal"


tasteless springs to mind

I did think the same thing, had to read it a couple of times to make sure I wasn't missing the word "nearly" :p
 
Man of Honour
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90,805
They always like to blame "speeding", but poor road layouts are probably the biggest reason tbh. Especially the A14. Then everyone slaming the brakes on for speed cameras, while someone behind is watching their speedo and not the road...

The increasingly **** road layouts don't help - so many places these days seem to have redone road layouts especially around junctions and roundabouts to min/max traffic flow but in reality the new layout is difficult to decipher quickly on approach so not fun for someone doing it for the first time and often causes chaos.

That doesn't tend to be the main cause of the disruptive/major accidents though - that mostly seems to come down to impatience and lack of consideration. I'm always amazed there aren't more accidents given the behaviours I see on show most days - people lazily cutting corners even when there is poor visibility and/or narrowing road at the corner, etc., people tailgating or otherwise leaving other drivers very little room, people forcing their way out of junctions or just coming out without looking and expecting other people to accommodate them on fast/multi-lane roads.

The mix of cyclists and high traffic volume doesn't help either - not really a very avoidable one unless we start building lots of cycle ways, etc. though.
 
Soldato
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I've had a few close ones with people cutting corners on B roads. I rarely used to see but it's getting more common.

I often see people cutting over the wrong side of the road when negotiating 90 degree junctions.

See a lot more people going for a last minute lunge for motorway or A road slip roads and/or staying in lane 2/3 for as long as possible before turning off (not a reference to the ‘break check’ thread :D).
 
Caporegime
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On the road....
A14 is just as bad.

Main trunk route with only two lanes and lots of hills, meaning truck / elephant races.

[Edit] A35 too...
To be fair, since it’s recent update the A14 I find to be a very good route these days, much better now the bottlenecks especially those at Catthorpe and Brampton are gone.

I travelled the A14 from the M11 to the M1 yesterday evening, bank holiday Monday as well and despite the heavy traffic I don’t think I disengaged my cruise control once (sat at 70 gps)

I was coming back from Gt Yarmouth, the dual carriageway A47 and A11 weren’t so good although the A11 is far better than it used to be.

Ultimately, it’s not specific roads that are bad as such, more some of the muppets using them. :D
 
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