Roads star rating to be unveiled

Thousands of kilometres of roads across Ireland are to be given a star rating on how dangerous they are in the event of a crash.

The Republic's network of main roads have being checked by teams of road engineers and each road will be given a rating of between no stars and four stars depending on how dangerous it is after a car crashes.

The rating, to be unveiled this afternoon, is similar to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) which gives car models star ratings for protection levels to occupants and pedestrians in the event of a collision.

More than 6,000 kilometres of roads are coming under scrutiny, comprising all the main roads in the Republic. However, the majority of Ireland's roads, a further 90,000 kilometres of smaller roads, will not be examined initially.

The rating system has been devised as part of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) in co-operation with motoring bodies and road agencies across Europe. AA Ireland, The National Roads Authority and DRD Roads Service Northern Ireland will publish a list of road star ratings jointly.

In deciding a road's star rating, the road surveyors considered three main types of collisions.

They are:

Head-on crashes - how well is traffic separated and what disincentives to over-taking along dangerous stretches of road are there;

Run-off crashes - how well are drivers protected against hitting rigid poles, signs, lampposts and trees or going down embankments if they leave the road;

Junction crashes - to what extent could a junction layout or the frequency of turnings contribute towards crashs;