Survey into the quality of road safety markings on Britain’s roads

This year’s survey is the ninth national investigation conducted by the RSMA into the quality of road safety markings. The findings in this report relate to site surveys carried out in the autumn of 2010. The survey covers a total of 2,462km of roads. This is nearly a third greater than the last survey in 2008 and makes it the largest the RSMA or any body has carried out.

Overall, the quality and performance of road markings in the UK is now back to 2006 levels – with 10% of all markings requiring immediate replacement and a total of nearly a quarter of all road markings requiring scheduled replacement in the
next 12 months.

The conclusions of the LifeLines Survey are clear: we need investment in the most basic and cost-effective road safety mechanism – road markings, and the network should be brought up to the minimum standard immediately. The true cost of failing to do so is not only financial but is in saving the lives of road users.