Young Farmers aim to cut rural road traffic accidents

Published: 05/07/2012

Members of the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) are meeting with the Government’s Road Safety Minister to discuss plans to cut the number of deaths and accidents on rural roads.

According to Government figures, two thirds of all road traffic fatalities occur on rural roads, with many involving young male drivers. In fact this group are 37 per cent more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident on a country road than anywhere else.

The NFYFC plans to launch a rural road safety campaign in November which includes calls for a specific person in each county to run rural driving training and hazard awareness courses. Milly Wastie, Vice Chairman of NFYFC, also wants more specific targets to cut road deaths.

Mike Penning, Road Safety Minister, is backing the campaign:

“We welcome the support of any group looking to improve road safety, especially those involving young people.

“Any road death or injury is a tragedy and I will continue to take urgent action to crack down on the most dangerous drivers while improving training to make our roads safer for everyone.

Road safety charity, Brake, has long campaigned for safer rural roads, describing such roads as drivers own “personal race circuit where they’re free to driver as fast as they like”.

Content correct at time of publication