Cat & Fiddle A537 most dangerous road in UK

Despite millions of ponds being spent on speed reduction and speed cameras the Cat & Fiddle A537 road between Buxton and Macclesfield has again been named the most dangerous in the UK.

The Road Safety Foundation issues a report each year listing the most dangerous roads in the country – this year topped by the A537 Cat and Fiddle. In its report the Road Safety Foundation said: “The road at the top of this year’s list is the A537 between Macclesfield and Buxton, known as the Cat and Fiddle.

“This short section of road has been listed in the persistently higher risk list six times in the last 10 years. At its peak in around 2006 to 2009 there were around 10 fatal and serious crashes on average every year.”

“The road is located in the Peak District and is rural and winding, attracting a large amount of motorcycling activity. Two-thirds of all fatal and serious crashes involved a motorcyclist, which reflects their high usage of the route.”

“As noted in our report last year, although this road section has seen significant improvement over time, the death and serious injury rate remains unacceptable.”

Cheshire East Council, who manage a large section of the road, say a range of measures have reduced accidents on the road and they have applied for more funding from a new Government scheme.

A Cheshire East spokesman said: “A package of measures involving average speed cameras, upgrades to safety barriers and new signage, alongside ongoing maintenance, is helping to reduce the number of collisions on the A537.

“Central Government has recognised the need for specific funding to improve road safety and, earlier this year, announced a £175m Safer Roads Fund between 2017/18 and 2020/21.  This funding is to improve the safety of specific sections of local ‘A’ roads, where the risk of fatal and serious collisions is highest, based on Road Safety Foundation data.”

“The A537 is one of these road sections and Cheshire  East Council has recently put forward a business case for some of the Safer Roads Funding for further road safety improvements on the route. Delivery of any future improvements will be carefully considered through our close working with the Cheshire Road Safety Group, Cheshire police and Derbyshire County Council.”

“Promotion of the safe use of our roads by all road users is our absolute priority and we will continue to encourage responsible use of the A537.”

The Road Safety Foundation report added fatal and serious crashes had decreased by 18 per cent across Cheshire between 2010/12 and 2013/15 – down from 1,653 to 1,358.

Since the report only lists areas where such accidents have either decreased by more than 15 per cent or increased, there is no information on the change in the number of serious or fatal accidents in Staffordshire.