New rural roads driving code published by insurer

Everyone should have patience with everyone else on the road, says rural road safety specialist Andrew Chalk

An insurance company has published a new code of conduct to tackle loss of life on the UK's rural roads.

NFU Mutual has launched the Code for Countryside Roads after new figures from the Department for Transport (Dft) showed there were 70% more deaths on rural roads than urban highways, despite there being fewer than half the number of collisions.

The code is a guide for motorists to help them use rural roads "safely and respectfully".

Andrew Chalk, a rural road safety specialist for the insurer, said: "The golden rule is patience - you're not going to lose much time if you slow down."

NFU Mutual's 2024 Rural Road Safety Report found that collisions on rural roads are about four times more likely to result in a fatality.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire, Mr Chalk said rural roads had "unique hazards", especially through the winter months.

He said: "You've got to think of things like ice and rain, compacted leaves and low winter sun – it's a cocktail for disaster essentially.

"Our message to people would be drive or ride or walk according to condition - don't treat the speed limit as a target."

According to a survey of more than 2,000 people by NFU Mutual, 21% admitted to being uncomfortable using rural roads.

'Lives being lost'

Mr Chalk said speeding often came down to a "lack of confidence or over confidence" on the roads.

"Either one can be disastrous," he said. "They [members of the public] might have grown up in the city of they might not be fully comfortable using rural roads and they don't actually have the skills or knowledge to handle the hazards that come their way.

"Conversely, a lot of people may have lived in the countryside for a long time, they know the roads, they know where they're going and that can cause their speed to creep up or for them to take a little bit less care.

"Unfortunately, the end result of those is lives being lost."

The safety specialist added slowing down was not going to impact your day, but "it could save your life or the life of someone else".

BBC Radio Wiltshire spoke to members of the public in Bradford-on-Avon about how they felt about driving on rural roads in the winter.

"I probably drive slower than the speed limit on country roads," a contributor said. "If I'm driving round a bend you can't see and the road is narrow.

"It tends to be the people in the SUVs, supposedly country cars, that really hog the road."

Another driver said he found comfort in the emergency services being close by.

He said: "I am comfortable driving on the roads in rural Wiltshire. I think we've got a great road infrastructure in the UK and so personally I'm quite happy".