ANALYSIS by the insurer and road safety campaigner NFU Mutual has found that 9,887 have been killed on rural roads in the past 10 years, two-thirds more than the number of deaths on urban roads.

In the South West of England, 1,179 people have lost their lives on countryside roads in the past 10 years, compared to 370 on urban roads.

According to the leading rural insurer’s analysis of the latest Department for Transport figures in its Rural Road Safety Report (accessible here: https://dmscdn.vuelio.co.uk/publicitem/9cf771fb-1b04-441b-99ca-e179f86b9e88) 956 people were killed on countryside roads in 2024, 72% more than the 555 on urban roads.

In all but one region of Britain, rural road fatalities outstripped those on urban roads.

In the South West, 113 people were killed on rural roads last year, almost three times more than the 38 people killed in urban road collisions.

Rural roads are also significantly more deadly when taking into account miles travelled.

In 2024, there were 6.3 deaths per billion miles travelled on countryside roads, compared to 4.7 on urban roads and 1.3 on motorways.

With rural roads consistently and disproportionately more dangerous than urban roads, NFU Mutual is calling for greater training on rural roads for learner drivers and for the creation of a Rural Road Safety Awareness Course for those who offend on rural roads.

In a survey of motorists conducted by OnePoll for NFU Mutual, 30% of those in the SW admitted to rarely or never driving on rural roads while learning to drive, with one in 10 never doing so.

Unsurprisingly, over a fifth (22%) said they felt unprepared to drive on rural roads following their test.

More than three quarters (76%) of respondents in the SW believed that learners should have more training and testing for driving on rural roads, while two thirds supported a Rural Road Safety Awareness Course for those who break rules on countryside roads.

Nick Turner, Chief Executive of NFU Mutual, said: “In the 10 years to the end of 2024, 10,000 lives were lost on Britain’s rural roads. To put that into perspective, that’s almost three loved ones killed each day over the last decade.

“As the Chief Executive of the UK’s leading rural insurer, I spend my days contemplating how we can reduce risk and protect lives and livelihoods in rural areas. These figures shock and worry me, as they should anybody who lives, works in, or visits our countryside, and I’m calling on the Government to ensure that the new national road safety strategy addresses this avoidable loss of life in our countryside.

“It’s clear that something needs to change. After years of declining fatalities on rural roads, progress has stalled since around 2012. It’s not acceptable that Britain continues to lose around 1,000 people each year to rural road fatalities and more must be done to prevent this needless loss of life.”

In August, the Government announced it would deliver the first road safety in a decade to protect road users and ensure tough penalties for law breakers.