Leading rural insurer NFU Mutual has today (Tuesday) published a Code for Countryside Roads to tackle the tragic and disproportionate loss of life on the UK’s rural roads.
NFU Mutual and its campaign partners launched the Code for Countryside Roads as exclusive analysis of official Department for Transport figures shows that there were almost 3x the number of fatalities on the South East’s rural roads (142) than urban highways (51) in 2023.
With 142 deaths, the South East was also the region of Britain with the most fatalities on countryside roads last year.
Throughout Great Britain, there 70% more deaths on rural roads than urban roads, despite there being fewer than half the number of collisions.
Publishing its findings in the 2024 Rural Road Safety Report, NFU Mutual found that collisions on rural roads are around four times more likely to result in a fatality. In 2023, an average of one in every 32 collisions (969 of 31,183) on rural highways resulted in a death, compared to one in every 122 (571 of 69,706) on urban roads.
The figures reflect a persistent trend of disproportionate danger on rural roads and the tragic and avoidable loss of hundreds of lives each year in the UK’s countryside.
Nick Turner, Chief Executive of NFU Mutual, said:
“Rural roads are the arteries of our countryside, vital to the rural economy and serving to connect us all to the benefits of the great outdoors.
Article continues below this advertisement “It is therefore all the more concerning that each year a vastly disproportionate number of lives are lost on rural roads. As the leading rural insurer with customers and Agents living and working in rural communities across the UK, we are keenly aware of the importance of countryside roads and the distress and disruption caused by collisions – particularly on the sad occasions where a life is lost.
“Every road death is an avoidable tragedy, and every road user has a responsibility to protect themselves and others, but the disparity in safety between urban and rural roads and the higher risk shouldered by vulnerable road users suggests that more can be done.
“That is why NFU Mutual has been campaigning for several years to improve rural road safety by raising awareness of the risks inherent to countryside roads, and why we are proud to publish a Code for Countryside Roads to provide a clear guide on how people should use rural roads.
“The Code has been developed in consultation with our campaign partners and based on feedback from over 700 members of the public. It is available to everyone, free of charge, on the NFU Mutual website and we hope it will help steer a course towards safer rural roads for all.”
Members of the public can access, download and print the Code for Countryside Roads at www.nfumutual.co.uk/ruralroads.
Until IW Council roll out 20mph islandwide
roads will NEVER be safe.
It’s happening all over the mainland, 20mph is plenty
“IT SAVES LIVES”
Also install decent speed Camera’s to catch the
Speeding offenders.
Another complete fool, research the statistics on Slow driving and the amount of casualties including fatalities they cause. Cars are safer than ever and yet since all the speed limits have been reduced the more accidents are rising. It’s NOT the speed it’s the POOR quality of driving that is to blame.
Of course speeding kills.
If a person is hit at 20mph good chance of
surviving, any thing more, don’t stand a chance.
When The Labour Government give the instructions
to IW Council to impose 20mph IT WILL FINALLY HAPPEN!