Fife’s accident hotspots revealed

The roads across Fife which have been the locations of the most accidents in recent years have been revealed.

The A92 – which runs the length of the Kingdom from Dunfermline to Dundee – saw the most road accidents between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2018 according to latest figures.

The government data shows a total of 216 accidents resulting in injury or death were recorded on that road.

It had more than double the number of accidents than the next nearest road, the A915 which connects Kirkcaldy and St Andrews, and includes a section known as the Standing Stane Road. It had 96 accidents during that time.

Other roads in the district featuring in the top ten with the highest figures were the A921 coastal road between the M90 and Kirkcaldy (86); the B981 which runs from North Queensferry to Kirkcaldy (84); the A91 which runs from St Andrews to Milnathort (57); the A985 from Rosyth to Kincardine (55); the A823 or A823M in Dunfermline (45); the A909 which runs from Kelty to Burntisland (44); the A911 which runs from Windygates to Milnathort (43); and the A914 from Glenrothes to Newport on Tay (42).

An average of 336 accidents causing death or injury happen every day on Britain’s roads, according to 2018 data.

While the number of accidents has fallen by a sixth in the past five years, road safety charity Brake has said more should be done to catch and punish dangerous drivers.

Analysis of government data show serious crashes are more likely to happen on a Friday between 5pm and 6pm. Drivers are more likely to be male and be aged between 26 and 35.

A spokesperson for road safety charity Brake said there were steps drivers could take to prevent accidents, such as slowing down, not using mobile phones when driving and getting their eyesight tested regularly.

But the spokesperson also said there needs to be “greater investment in road traffic enforcement so that people who do drive dangerously and break the law, endangering themselves and all other road users, are caught and punished”.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We remain committed to working with our road safety partners to deliver a coordinated approach to road safety to secure the ultimate vision established in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020 and beyond, where no one is killed on our roads. Road deaths are not an inevitability.”