16 October 2006

Dark rural roads are highlighted as danger zones

The Local Authority Road Safety Officer's Association (LARSOA) has expressed concern at the number of collisions and fatalities which take place on rural roads.

A staggering 64% of all fatalities occur on rural roads and over 15,000 people were killed or seriously injured last year on country roads.

This month (October) the Government's Think! road safety campaign launched its first ever rural speeding campaign aimed at rural drivers and while LARSOA welcomes the initiative, the Association believes changing the practise of turning the clocks back at the end of the month could save even more lives.

A recent survey by the Government's Think! road safety campaign reveals that drivers on rural roads are driving with less care than on urban roads. In particular:

• Younger (17-28 year olds) and inexperienced drivers (driving for less than a year) are taking the most risks with almost one in ten of those surveyed admitting they think it's safer to break the speed limit on rural roads due to the lack of cars around

• A third (33%) of all younger drivers are also confident that fewer collisions take place on rural roads because they are quieter.

David Frost, LARSOA spokesman, says that while these misconceptions are extremely worrying, having an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day throughout the winter months could save around 450 deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

He says: "Research shows lighter evenings would result in around 450 fewer deaths and serious injuries, including between 104 and 138 fewer deaths.

"Rural roads usually have little or no lighting compared to urban routes, so an extra hour of daylight can have real impact, particularly during the late afternoon and evening when people are completing the commute home from work.

"Rural roads can present hazards such as blind bends, summits and animals on the roads and if a driver loses control on an isolated stretch of road, the collision may not be discovered for some time. It is more difficult for other drivers to spot the collision in the dark and call for help. If the driver has serious injuries, the length of time before there is medical help is critical. If they are not found quickly, it could mean the difference between life and death."

Other findings from the survey include:

• 13% of men questioned agreed it was safer to break the speed limit on rural roads due to the lack of other traffic, as opposed to only 2% of women.

• Almost double (40%) the amount of men than women (24%) thought fewer collisions take place on rural roads because they are quieter.

• Over twice (21%) as many men as women (10%) think it's safe to drive faster on rural roads late at night because they believe you'll see headlights coming the other way as well as almost a quarter (22%) of younger drivers.  

David adds: "While we would urge drivers to take the same care on rural roads as they do in urban areas and drive carefully and at a speed appropriate to the conditions, we know an extra hour of daylight could make a huge impact on these worrying figures."

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For media enquiries please call Alison Ferst on 01287 610404 or 07779 435794.

ABOUT LARSOA

• LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

• LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

• LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

• LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

• The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.