Safety campaign aims to cut country road deaths in West MidlandsMAKING country roads in the West Midlands safer is the aim of a new campaign.
The launch of the Code for Countryside Roads comes after Department for Transport (DfT) figures showed the region saw almost double the number deaths on rural roads compared to urban roads.
There were 104 fatalities on rural roads in the West Midlands in 2023, compared to 58 on urban roads.
Data also showed across Great Britain, collisions on rural roads were around four times more likely to result in a fatality.
South Warwickshire-based rural insurer NFU Mutual has partnered with the four UK farming unions, RoSPA, the Farm Safety Foundation, British Horse Society and Older Drivers Forum to create a Code for Countryside Roads to promote safe, considerate use of countryside highways.
Nick Turner, chief executive of NFU Mutual, said: “Rural roads are the arteries of our countryside, vital to the rural economy and serving to connect us all to the benefits of the great outdoors.
“It is therefore all the more concerning that each year a vastly disproportionate number of lives are lost on rural roads.
“Every road death is an avoidable tragedy, and every road user has a responsibility to protect themselves and others, but the disparity in safety between urban and rural roads and the higher risk shouldered by vulnerable road users suggests that more can be done.
“That is why NFU Mutual has been campaigning for several years to improve rural road safety by raising awareness of the risks inherent to countryside roads, and why we are proud to publish a Code for Countryside Roads to provide a clear guide on how people should use rural roads.
“The Code has been developed in consultation with our campaign partners and based on feedback from over 700 members of the public. It is available to everyone, free of charge, on the NFU Mutual website and we hope it will help steer a course towards safer rural roads for all.”
To access, download and print the Code for Countryside Roads, visit
NFU mutual 
