White lines barely visible on half UK roads

Road markings across the UK are vanishing at an alarming rate.

A snapshot survey of nearly 500 miles showed that 50.6% of the UK’s road markings are barely visible.

The proportion of roads falling into the “emergency repairs” bracket stands at 23% and less than 7% of road markings score the highest rating.

The Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) carried out the latest spot-check across a range of motorways and major A roads managed by the Highways Agency, and lesser A and B roads managed by local authorities.

RSMA national director George Lee said: “These findings are shocking. A simple cross-section of roads – arguably representative of the entire network – shows a level of deterioration that defies belief.

“We recognise that the UK is currently under huge financial pressure, but road markings are widely recognised to provide the best, most simple navigation aid to drivers, and to be the most cost-effective road safety measure and it is time we gave drivers the vital clues they need to use our roads.”

The RSMA is advising Government on extending the rating standards used by the Highways Agency to cover local authority roads and is presenting the findings of this survey to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety next week.