Drivers are being urged to think about safety on rural roads as the UK government launches its new THINK! campaign today (Monday, March 6).
The campaign – ‘Is pushing it worth it? – is particularly aimed at young male drivers. The government said that statistics show that male drivers aged between 17-24-years-old are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than drivers aged 25 and over.
It added that 60% of all serious and fatal collisions involving male drivers were on rural roads.
The research carried out ahead of the launch of the THINK! campaign has shown that young males underestimate the risks of driving just a few miles/hour over the right speed for the road conditions.
The safety campaign aims to challenge this overconfidence among young drivers and highlight the dangerous of speeding, especially on rural roads.
Road Safety Minister Richard Holden said: “Road safety is our priority, but we want to accelerate our efforts to tackle unsafe driving habits and create some of the safest roads in the world.
“We’re highlighting the dangers of relaxed driving attitudes on rural roads so that everyone recognises that pushing the speed limit is just not worth it.”
Government research revealed that less than half (43%) of young men consider exceeding the speed limit to be unacceptable, while over two-thirds (68%) see drink driving as unacceptable and 52% think using a mobile phone without handsfree is unacceptable.
A main driver for the launch of the THINK! campaign, the government said, was the statistics that revealed speeding as the cause of around one in four fatal collisions.
Despite this, research revealed that speeding is considered the least risky and most acceptable behaviour among drivers, especially young male drivers.
Dr. Gemma Briggs, a professor of applied cognitive psychology at the Open University, said most driver consider themselves to be better than average at driving.
“This can make drivers feel that while others shouldn’t speed, their own increased skill means they can handle a bit of extra speed, and every journey completed seemingly without incident for a speeding driver confirms to them that their behaviour is acceptable, even if they endanger others,” she said.
“Young drivers also have these biases, but have the added problem of a lack of driving experience.
“They can’t rely on their previous experience to understand driving situations, so adding other elements to this such as additional speed increases the likelihood of young drivers failing to notice hazards and being involved in a collision.”
Road safety spokesperson from the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), Simon Williams, said: “We know speeding presents a clear and present road safety danger, particularly on country roads where the number of collisions is much greater.
“We also know that far too many young people are injured or killed every year in car accidents, so hopefully this campaign can bring about some much-needed behavioural change among the nation’s least experienced drivers which helps to keep everyone safe on our rural roads.”
