Drivers are being urged to consider ignoring sat nav instructions that divert them onto rural roads, according to new advice from road safety charity IAM RoadSmart. The plea follows a survey commissioned by the charity, which found that 54% of drivers have been diverted onto rural roads due to congestion on motorways, dual carriageways, and other major A roads.
Rural Road Dangers Highlighted
The charity noted that latest Department for Transport (DfT) figures show 60% of road deaths in Britain in 2024 occurred on rural roads, despite these roads carrying only 45% of traffic. Rural roads often feature hazards such as tractors, narrow lanes, and restricted views from roadside foliage, IAM RoadSmart warned.
Risk of Increased Diversions
The charity said there is a risk that more drivers will be diverted onto unfamiliar rural routes unless capacity is increased on major roads. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled all future smart motorway projects in April 2023 due to safety concerns. All lane running smart motorways, which boost capacity by converting the hard shoulder into a live lane, were rolled out from 2014.
IAM RoadSmart director of policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Every year, more people are killed on a rural road than any other road type, yet worryingly we’re seeing a high number of people taking unplanned diversions to use them. Congestion is inevitable, but we would encourage people to question if a diversion onto an unclassified or single-track route is worth saving a few minutes, considering the increased hazards they might face. Often, other people following sat navs will similarly divert and you end up with traffic volumes that exceed what the road is designed for. Traffic growth shows little sign of abating, yet without a commitment to increase capacity on the wider strategic network, we may see more traffic filtering onto the rural road network, with potentially grave consequences.”
The survey of 1,042 UK motorists and 114 IAM RoadSmart motorbike riders was conducted by research company Online95 in February.
