Detours forcing drivers onto dangerous rural roads
Rural roads are becoming more dangerous as millions of drivers are being forced off motorways onto country lanes by road closures and diversions.
According to new data from road safety charity IAM RoadSmart, in the last 12 months 54% of motorists have been forced to detour onto a rural road because of congestion on motorways, dual carriageways and other main A roads.
Meanwhile, 42% have experienced a mid-journey change from their sat-navs which ended up rerouting them onto country lanes while nearly 60% were forced to do the same thing because of a road closure.
Six in 10 road fatalities occur on rural roads, with common hazards including tractors, wildlife, narrow lanes, restricted views from roadside foliage, as well as a lack of safe infrastructure.
Unplanned diversions
IAM RoadSmart director of policy and external communications Nicholas Lyes said: “Every year, more people are killed on a rural road than any other road type yet worryingly we’re seeing a high number of people taking unplanned diversions to use them.
“Congestion is inevitable, but we would encourage people to question if a diversion onto an unclassified or single-track route is worth saving a few minutes considering the increased hazards they might face. Often, other people following sat-navs will similarly divert and you end up with traffic volumes that exceed what the road is designed for and may ultimately not save time the diverted driver expects.
“Traffic growth shows little sign of abating, yet without a commitment to increase capacity on the wider strategic network, we may see more traffic filtering onto the rural road network, with potentially grave consequences.”
