‘THINK! Country Roads’ campaign supported by Transport for Bucks

To help boost awareness of safer driving on the county’s rural roads, particularly on approaches to bends, Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) is supporting the national ‘Think! Country Roads’ campaign.

The campaign, which runs until the end of November 2016, is targeting drivers aged 25-34 years with the message ‘brake before the bend, not on it’.

59% of all road fatalities in Great Britain occur on country roads. In 2015 10,307 people were killed or seriously injured on these type of roads. The number of people killed on country roads is 10 times higher than on motorways.

In 2016 in Buckinghamshire 14 people killed and 113 seriously injured on country roads. The 14 fatalities equate to two thirds of all road deaths within the county in 2015. The primary causes of these collisions were failing to look properly at junctions, poor judgement of speed and loss of control on bends.

A national survey carried out prior to the campaign showed that problems on country roads are most acute among young drivers.

A third confessed to braking too late before a bend and more than one in 10 admitted to ‘taking the racing line’ by crossing into the opposite side of the road. Young drivers are also the most likely to overtake on a bend without a clear road ahead.

Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation at Buckinghamshire County Council, said: ‘Buckinghamshire is a rural county with many beautiful country lanes that attract a wide range of road users including walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

The Think! Country Roads campaign aims to get drivers to anticipate the hazards that may lie ahead and reduce their speed into bends, with the key message ‘brake before the bend, not on it’ as you never know what may be just around the corner.‘

TfB supports motorists of all ages by offering ‘Be a Better Driver’ assessments.  These assessments place a strong emphasis on driving on rural roads and the importance of anticipation and hazard awareness.

Further information on the ‘Be a Better Driver’ assessments can be found by emailing [email protected] or by calling 01296 382 416.

To support the 2016 Country Roads campaign there will be a re-run of the existing ‘If you could see’ creative in cinema, radio and online.

From Wednesday 26th October 2016 the THINK! team will be sharing digital content, key facts and campaign information on the THINK! Facebook page, Twitter page, YouTube and at http://think.direct.gov.uk/country-roads.html.