10k rural road deaths prompt calls for driving-awareness training
8th December 2025
Around 10,000 people have died on rural roads over the past decade, prompting renewed calls for mandatory driving-awareness training to tackle the persistent danger. NFU Mutual’s latest analysis revealed that almost a third of drivers rarely or never drove on rural roads while learning, raising concerns about gaps in real-world experience.
Insurer and road safety campaigner NFU Mutual confirmed that 9,887 have been killed on rural roads in the past 10 years, two-thirds more than the number of deaths on urban roads.
According to the analysis of the latest Department for Transport figures in its Rural Road Safety Report, 956 people were killed on countryside roads in 2024, 72% more than the 555 on urban roads. In all but one region of Britain, rural road fatalities outstripped those on urban roads.
NFU Mutual explained that rural roads are also significantly more deadly when taking into account miles travelled. In 2024, there were 6.3 deaths per billion miles travelled on countryside roads, compared to 4.7 on urban roads and 1.3 on motorways.
With rural roads consistently and disproportionately more dangerous than urban roads, the road safety campaigner is calling for greater training on rural roads for learner drivers and for the creation of a Rural Road Safety Awareness Course for those who offend on rural roads.
‘Three loved ones killed each day over the last decade’
In a survey of 2,000 motorists conducted by OnePoll for NFU Mutual, almost a third (31%) admitted to rarely or never driving on rural roads while learning to drive, with one in 10 (11%) never doing so.
Over a quarter (26%) of all surveyed motorists said they felt unprepared to drive on rural roads following their test.
More than eight in 10 respondents believed that learners should have more training and testing for driving on rural roads, while 71% supported a Rural Road Safety Awareness Course for those who break rules on countryside roads. Just 6% did not support the introduction of a course.
Nick Turner, chief executive of NFU Mutual, said: “In the 10 years to the end of 2024, 10,000 lives were lost on Britain’s rural roads. To put that into perspective, that’s almost three loved ones killed each day over the last decade.
“I spend my days contemplating how we can reduce risk and protect lives and livelihoods in rural areas. These figures shock and worry me, as they should anybody who lives, works in, or visits our countryside, and I’m calling on the government to ensure that the new national road safety strategy addresses this avoidable loss of life in our countryside.
“It’s clear that something needs to change. After years of declining fatalities on rural roads, progress has stalled since around 2012. It’s not acceptable that Britain continues to lose around 1,000 people each year to rural road fatalities, and more must be done to prevent this needless loss of life.”
In August, the government announced it would deliver the first road safety in a decade to protect road users and ensure tough penalties for lawbreakers.
NFU Mutual’s analysis shows that only the North West of England saw fewer rural road fatalities than urban road fatalities, with each nation and other region of Great Britain losing more people to rural road collisions than crashes in urban areas.
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