Road Respect

The road north from this junction towards the M27 south coast motorway has been named one of the most dangerous roads in the country.
It is just a four-mile stretch of the A36 from the town centre of Totton to the motorway at Ower, yet road safety researchers at the Road Safety Foundation regard it as a particularly risky stretch of road. Only one other road in the country is more dangerous, they reckon.
Now, while I do not doubt the researchers figures on which their assertion is based, I personally believe there are other stretches of the A36 through Hampshire and Wiltshire towards Bath and Bristol which are far more notorious.
I drive this four mile stretch of road every day and I would not have put such a high risk category on it. Congested, yes frequently; speed restrictions — on much of it, yes. Dangerous junctions — well many junctions yes, but particularly dangerous? I would have thought no more so than any other main road through a dominantly urban area anywhere in the country.
However, the researchers say statistics of accidents on this stretch of road paint a different picture.
It was raining heavily when I traveled this road today, so I suppose it was more hazardous than usual, but that was through weather conditions, rather than the road itself.
 
The one lesson to be learned perhaps, is that I must have more respect for this four miles in future!