Traffic, its impacts and public attitudes - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 45

Motorways Rural A roads Urban A roads Minor roads

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

1986 2006 1986 2006 1986 2006 1986 2006 1986 2006 1986 2006

All vehicle
types

Articulated
lorries

Bus and
coach

Other HGV Light vans Cars, taxis

and
motorcycle

Figure 3.4 Distribution of traffic between road classes by vehicle type 1986 and 2006

and the largest (articulated) lorries in particular have always made greater use of
inter-urban roads, but this feature has become even more pronounced. All but 8% of
articulated lorry traffic now takes place on motorways or A roads outside towns.
The present distribution of all types of traffic also merits comment. The principle
of a hierarchy is applied to the planning of the road network, to the standards of
design used in its component levels and to the pattern of movement promoted through
direction signing. This is so that investment can be concentrated on a limited mileage
of heavily used roads, thus securing the greatest benefits of speed and safety and least
environmental impact (per vehicle mile). As a result nearly two-thirds of all traffic is
now on motorways and A class roads even though these only comprise one-eighth of
the total road network.
The hierarchy principle is carried further with motorways. These have particularly
high benefits (and costs) arising from the absence of frontage development, grade
junctions and pedestrian movements built into their design. Thirty-one per cent of
traffic operates on these special roads although they comprise only 7% of the main
road network.

3.3 Casualties
Motorised transport is inherently hazardous, especially in situations where pedestrians
and cyclists are also present. Over the last fifty years much of the investment in the
transport system, including vehicle design, has been directed to improving safety
performance. The number of fatalities on the highway network during this period are
illustrated in Figure 3.5. (Note that the graph is 'stacked', i.e. the contribution of each
user group is shown cumulatively.)
By comparison with contemporary standards accidents and casualty rates on the
network in the early days of motoring were appallingly high. In the immediate post-
war period when road traffic was a tenth of its present level more than 3,000 non-
motorists and 2,000 motorcyclists and other motorists were killed each year. From one
perspective the rate of improvement achieved since then during the transition to mass
car use has been momentous. From another perspective the absolute level of carnage
which continues to be sustained represents a staggeringly high price in personal and