- new road safety campaign launched to raise awareness of risks when speeding or driving too fast for road conditions, especially on rural roads
- latest statistics show 60% of all serious and fatal collisions involving young male car drivers happened on rural roads
- the campaign highlights that speed kills and injures 54 young people every week in the UK
Drivers are being urged by road safety experts to think about the dangers of driving too fast for road conditions in a new THINK! campaign that launches today (6 March 2023).
The new THINK! campaign, “Is pushing it worth it?” is targeted at young male drivers, as statistics show male drivers aged 17 to 24 are 4 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than drivers aged 25 or over. Research findings also show that 60% of all serious and fatal collisions involving young male car drivers were on rural roads.
Safety experts raise further concerns as less than half (43%) of young men consider exceeding the speed limit to be unacceptable, while over two thirds (68%) see drink driving as unacceptable and over half (52%) think using a mobile without handsfree is unacceptable.
Speeding accounts for around 1 in 4 fatal collisions, but despite this is considered one of the least risky and most acceptable behaviours among drivers, especially young men. The campaign highlights that speed kills and injuries 54 young people every week in the UK.
Dr Gemma Briggs, Professor of Applied Cognitive Psychology at the Open University, said:
Most drivers consider themselves to be ‘better than average’ at driving. This can make drivers feel that while others shouldn’t speed, their own increased skill means they can handle a bit of extra speed, and every journey completed seemingly without incident for a speeding driver confirms to them that their behaviour is acceptable, even if they endanger others.
Young drivers also have these biases, but have the added problem of a lack of driving experience. They can’t rely on their previous experience to understand driving situations, so adding other elements to this such as additional speed increases the likelihood of young drivers failing to notice hazards and being involved in a collision.
THINK! research shows young males underestimate the risks of driving just a few miles per hour over the right speed for the road conditions. The campaign seeks to challenge overconfidence among younger drivers and highlight that while excessive speeding is an issue, it is equally important to not go slightly over the speed limit or drive too fast for the road.
Ken Hawkins 
I live on Forshaw Heath Road which is in Warks. However this changes to Rumbush Lane under Solihukk Ward at the Earlswood station bridge. Over the past couple of years we have noticed a marked increase in bit racers down our road with a consequence of one car on its roof and one car in a ditch over the past couple of years. The speed limit is 50mph and our six houses are just after a narrowing of the road and a blind bend. I did contact Warks council telling them it was a Road death waiting to happen unless the speed was more limited but was told that until someone DOEA die on that road nothing will be done !!!
Excuse the spelling … fat fingers 😱. And BOY racers not bit racers 😳🙄
An excellent campaign, but hopefully it won’t result in SMBC putting 20mph speed limits everywhere. This has happened in a couple of local authorities across the country, once again penalising the majority for the few speeding drivers.