Speed warning to cut death toll on Shropshire country lanes
Motorists must slow down on Shropshire country lanes, a leading UK road safety organisation has said.
With new figures showing that three people die each day on rural roads, the TTC Group from Hadley Park, Telford, says drivers are braking too late on bends and ignoring other road users including vulnerable pedestrians, cyclists and farm vehicles.
A total of 1,040 people were killed and 9,051 seriously injured on country roads in the UK last year with a third of fatalities on a bend in the road, Department for Transport figures show.
A survey of 2,000 motorists in England and Wales found that almost a quarter (23 per cent) admit to braking too late on bends and two-fifths (41 per cent) claim to have swerved to avoid something in the road.
Road safety project THINK! has launched a new country roads campaign in a bid to encourage drivers to anticipate hazards and brake before they reach a bend, not on it.
Experts from TTC, which runs courses for all road users nationwide and on behalf of the police after traffic infringements, have backed the campaign.
Group director, Alan Prosser said: "Driving on rural roads can present many hazards for drivers. Being able to stop in the distance we can see to be clear is imperative.
"If you can't see what is around the next corner then you must slow down and drive at the appropriate speed."
Road safety minister Andrew Jones said: "We want the public to anticipate potential hazards on the road when driving in the countryside, to watch their speed and take care when approaching a bend."
