A KEY Furness road which has been the scene of a series of tragic crashes has been labelled one of the most dangerous in the North West.

The A5087 Coast Road between Ulverston and Barrow is ranked as being of medium to high risk of accidents resulting in fatalities or serious injuries in a new survey.

Now, the bereaved families of victims of a fatal horror smash near Newbiggin have urged drivers to pay attention to speed restrictions along the route to prevent future deaths.

John Pollock, whose son Joey, 20, was killed in a car accident on the Coast Road in 2004 alongside friends Grant Huntington, 16, and Matthew Salt, 20, said safety was often in the hands of drivers themselves.

“As I have always said, people think they are immune to accidents and that it will never happen to them.

“But everyone knows of someone who has paid the ultimate price on that road.

“I wish there was something else I could do. If people want to go over the speed limit it's up to them.

"The trouble is it involves others who can end up paying the price for this recklessness.”

Mr Pollock added: “Probably the only way to force people to slow down is to put sleeping policemen along the road, because they are never going to observe the limit otherwise.”

Pensioner Pat Hume was among those who helped campaign for a speed reduction on the road following the triple fatality 11 years ago.

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She said: “A car is a weapon and the accelerator is a trigger.

“Families have been devastated by accidents along this road. We need some cameras along there - to force people to slow down.”

The newly published information, from the Road Safety Foundation, found 50 per cent of all road accident deaths across the country are concentrated on A roads outside of core urban areas.

Single carriageways were found to be up to eight times more dangerous than motorways.

It also shows a second route in south Cumbria - the A592 from Newby Bridge through Windermere to Penrith - is considered to be of medium to high risk of serious or fatal accidents.

The A595 linking Barrow with the West Coast, was classed as a road bearing a medium risk to motorists.

The statistics were calculated by comparing the frequency of crashes with traffic volumes on individual routes.

The research prompted Copeland MP Jamie Reed to renew his call to the government to improve the route.

““We are building a 21st century economy on 20th century infrastructure. The A595 is crucial to the Cumbrian economy, but it is not fit for purpose.

“In order for us to take advantage of the economic opportunities coming our way, the Government can no longer shirk their responsibilities.  They should conduct a feasibility study into improving the A595 in order make it a safer and more reliable road."

But while safety measures such as improved road markings, clearer junction layouts and speed restrictions are known to reduce the volume of accidents, Cumbria’s highways boss has warned spending on the county’s roads could be cut next year.

Cumbria County Councillor Keith Little, portfolio holder for highways and transport, said the county’s infrastructure network was faced with spending reductions as the authority attempts to balance its books in the face of sharp government cuts.

“We’ve been lucky in that for the past two years the budget has been the same for highways and transport but it will now have to take its share of the cuts imposed upon us.

“We still have a significant sum to identify in terms of savings and Cumbria has to look to reduce its staff by up to 600 - some of these will be within highways and transport.”

But Cllr Little added: “One of the issues with rural roads in Cumbria is that in the main they are used by local people on a regular basis, and unfortunately, they think conditions are the same all of the time.

“They’re not.

“We are well aware in the county of our highways situation and we are asking government to support us in keeping the people of Cumbria and our visitors safe.”

<u>Road accidents took £265m toll on county’s economy</u>

THE cost of road accidents to the Cumbrian economy has been calculated for the first time.

The latest data available, for the period between 2011 and 2013, shows crashes over the two years carried a price tag to the county of £265 million.

The figure, from road safety group the Road Traffic Foundation, puts Cumbria in the top third of all counties in the UK for the amount lost due to serious or fatal crashes on its highways network.

With a population over the course of the two years of 499,104, experts within the organisation estimate the cost per resident to be £531.

A spokesman for the Road Traffic Foundation said: “The report shows that leading the way to reduce harm on the roads is not just a moral imperative for the new Highways England, the economic loss on the network for which it has just become responsible, even excluding the cost of traffic delays, exceeds £2 billion for the period examined.

“All authorities now need to focus on raising the safety and reducing the cost of crashes on the busy main roads for which they are responsible.”

Cumbria County Council’s portfolio for highways, Councillor Keith Little, said: “Unfortunately, when an accident happens the police can close the road for three to five hours while they investigate.

“This means people are delayed or have to take 10 or 15 mile diversions to get where they need to be -and there will be a cost to all of that.”