Government launches campaign against rural speeding

The Government has launched a road safety campaign to raise awareness of the risks of speeding and driving too fast for the conditions of the road, especially on rural roads.

The latest statistics show 60% of all serious and fatal collisions involving young male car drivers happen on roads in the countryside.

The campaign, Is pushing it worth it?, highlights that speed kills and injures 54 young people every week in the UK.

Safety experts say less than half of young men consider breaking the speed limit to be unacceptable and half think using a mobile without handsfree is OK.

Road safety minister Richard Holden said: ‘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.

‘Speeding accounts for around one in four fatal collisions, but despite this is considered one of the least risky and most acceptable behaviours among drivers, especially young men.

‘The campaign highlights that speed kills and injuries 54 young people every week in the UK.’

The RAC foundation recently warned that the category 'rural road' includes many different roads with different risks.

‘The risk is that the catch-all term “rural road” has hidden a multitude of different highway types, each of which poses its own range of road safety challenges.'