Speed On Country Roads

Speed on country roads

More than half (59%) of fatal crashes in Britain occur on country roads [1]. Per mile travelled, country roads are the most dangerous roads for all kinds of road user [2]:

• Car occupants are twice as likely to be killed on a country road than an urban road.

• Motorcyclists are more than twice as likely to be killed on a country road than an urban road.

• Cyclists are almost three times more likely to be killed on a country road than an urban road.

Speed is a major factor in country road crashes [3]. A study of country single-carriageway roads estimated that a 10% increase in average speed results in a 30% increase in fatal and serious crashes [4]. The most common crash types on country roads are collisions at intersections, head-on collisions and running off the road [5] – these are all related to excessive speed.

While country roads can initially appear empty, they are shared spaces used by vulnerable road users including pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders, as well as slow moving farm vehicles, livestock, wild animals, and large vehicles such as buses and quarry vehicles.