A new survey from the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) suggests that 23% of drivers avoid using certain roads at night at least once a week due to visibility worries.
The survey, which informed RSMA’s recent whitepaper ‘No Margin for Error: How Edge Lines Impact Safety and Rural Economies’, polled 2,000 drivers across the UK.
The figure rises to 41% for those aged 18 to 24 years.
Elsewhere, 20% plan their routes to avoid roads with inadequate markings at least once a week. For drivers under 35 years, this increases to 33% and reaches 67% in the past six months, showing the impact of inadequate road markings on younger drivers’ daily lives.
Notably, the survey implies that poor road markings have the biggest impact on rural communities and businesses. Some 45% of drivers have avoided using rural roads in the past six months due to visibility worries.
Additionally, 36% of drivers have chosen not to visit rural businesses in the past six months because of poor visibility, rising to 59% for drivers under 35 years.
The research was prompted by questions over whether simply marking roads with white edge lines could improve safety. Almost three quarters (73%) of UK drivers agreed that they feel safer on roads where edge lines were present, and 67% would be more willing to drive at night on rural roads.
Drivers also reported that edge lines have a bigger impact than other safety measures such as reducing speed limits (51%) and introducing speed humps (40%).
Rob Shearing, CEO at the Road Safety Markings Association, said: “Edge lines aren’t necessarily the first road safety solution that springs to mind for local authorities, but there is clearly a strong demand for them from drivers.
“These results show clearly that the absence of this critical visual deters people from driving on rural roads and roads at night, especially younger drivers. The next generation of drivers need to be confident in navigating any road at any time of the day, and it’s clear, they currently aren’t.
“Issues regarding poor visibility can be rectified by getting the basics right. Road markings should be refreshed regularly, with an emphasis seen to rural roads that are seeing the most avoidance from drivers. If we don’t do this, we will continue to see rural businesses impacted. We know local authorities are cash-strapped, but we also know that the cost of applying edge lines is far less than for other safety enhancing measures.
“If we are serious about maintaining road safety, saving businesses and, above all, lives, edge lines can no longer be overlooked.”
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