Rural roads have ‘unique and diverse hazards’

NFU Mutual has launched a new Code for Countryside Roads, bringing together ‘expert knowledge and advice’ to make rural roads safer for everyone.

The Code is supported by the farming unions of all four nations, along with the British Horse Society, Older Drivers Forum, the Farm Safety Foundation, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

It has been produced with input from these partners and members of the public to ensure common concerns of all road users are addressed.

According to NFU Mutual’s latest analysis of DfT figures, there were 70% more deaths on Britain’s rural roads in 2023 than there were on urban roads. Collisions on rural roads are also around four times more likely to result in a fatality.

NFU Mutual says countryside roads have unique and diverse hazards which are often entirely different to those on urban roads and require a specific set of skills and awareness.

These common hazards include:

• Higher speed limits
• Changing speed limits
• Blind corners, junctions or field entrances
• High speed corners and junctions
• Narrow carriageways and single lanes with no hard shoulders
• Poor road condition
• Overgrown verges
• Limited/no road lighting or road markings
• Mud and debris on the road
• Agricultural vehicles
• Livestock and wild animals
• Vulnerable road users (e.g. people walking, cycling, riding horses or carriages, or people riding motorcycles)

The Code provides advice for all road users, and notes that it is important that road users respect that everyone has a right to use rural roads, both for work and for leisure, and have patience with slower-moving traffic or those who may not be confident driving on countryside roads.

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.

“It is therefore all the more concerning that each year a vastly disproportionate number of lives are lost on rural roads.

Vulnerable road users like people walking, cycling and riding horses also continue to shoulder a greater risk. Sadly, this reflects a persistent trend which suggests that road users are not adequately equipped to deal with the unique hazards of rural roads.

“That is why NFU Mutual has been campaigning for a number of years to improve rural road safety by raising awareness of the risks inherent to countryside roads, and why we are proud to publish this Code for Countryside Roads to provide a clear guide on how people should use rural roads.”

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