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A potential 24 million of Britain’s motorists are worried about driving on UK roads, according to new research by independent road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart.
A survey of 1,004 motorists on which roads they are most worried about driving on, revealed that 60 percent of respondents are concerned about getting behind the wheel, for one reason or another.
Alarmingly, this potentially represents 24 million drivers of the 40 million full driving licence holders in the UK.
Of those surveyed, 33 per cent reported that they are most worried about driving on smart motorways, making this the road type motorists fear driving on the most, by some distance. This compares starkly with the six per cent of drivers who are worried about motorways with a hard shoulder.
Meanwhile, only 14 per cent of drivers said that they are worried about driving on rural or countryside single carriage way roads, even though these are the roads with the highest recorded accidents and deaths from driving.
Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, said: “Our research has laid bare the staggering number of people who feel worried about driving on Britain’s roads.
“We would encourage drivers to do all they can to re-educate themselves, especially during National Road Victim Month, on how to navigate the unique challenges and considerations each road type presents.”
On the survey’s smart motorways findings, Neil added: “While statistics may well show that smart motorways have fewer fatal crashes than conventional motorways, our research shows that far too many drivers still don’t feel safe on them.
“Moving forward, it is vital that National Highways up their efforts to keep the public informed and continue to raise awareness of how to drive safely on smart motorways.
“It is also clear that awareness needs to be raised about the risks of rural roads,” he added. “Far from being a pleasant drive in the countryside, these are the type of roads which can punish mistakes with death and injury.”
