UK road markings 'barely visible'

02 March 2012

More than half of Britain's road markings can barely be seen by drivers, according to a new survey.

An assessment of 483 miles of British roads by the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) determined that 50.6% of road markings were barely visible. The inspection also found that nearly a quarter of roads are close to falling into a state of emergency repair.

Roads in Scotland and Wales were singled out for criticism, with the M9 and M90 in Scotland and the A465, A487, A4112 and A4143 in Wales particularly poorly marked. In England, road markings on portions of the M1, M6 and M18 were also classed as barely visible.

The survey also showed a steep deterioration in the state of Britain's roads as fewer than 7% of markings scored the highest rating this year, compared to 23% in 2011. Poor quality roads might increase the chances of vehicle damage and lead drivers to become more reliant on breakdown cover .

George Lee, RSMA national director, said the findings were shocking and could lead to more accidents. He said: "We could see a clear, direct correlation between deadly roads and deadly road markings when we examined the 10 most dangerous roads identified by the Road Safety Foundation."

SOURCE - (http://www.greenflag.com/news/stories/uk-road-markings--barely-visible--13178.html)