A surprisingly high number of drivers say they avoid roads with inadequate markings at least once a week.
20% of drivers who took part in a new survey by the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) revealed the issues with visibility and faded markings. The numbers avoiding roads for these reasons increased to 33% for drivers under 35.
The survey implies that poor road markings have the biggest impact on rural communities and businesses. Almost half (45%) of drivers have avoided using rural roads in the past six months due to visibility worries.
More than a third (36%) of drivers have chosen not to visit rural businesses in the past six months because of poor visibility, rising to 59% for drivers under 35.
The survey, which informed RSMA’s recent whitepaper ‘No Margin for Error: How Edge Lines Impact Safety and Rural Economies’, polled 2,000 drivers across the UK.
The research was prompted by questions over whether simply marking roads with white edge lines could improve road safety.
Almost three-quarters (73%) of drivers agreed that they feel safer on roads where edge lines were present, and more than two-thirds (67%) would be more willing to drive at night on rural roads.
The research found that more than one-in-five drivers (23%) avoid using certain roads at night at least once a week due to visibility worries. This rises to 41% for those aged 18 to 24.
Drivers also reported that edge lines have a bigger impact than other safety measures such as reducing speed limits (51%) and introducing speed humps (40%).
Rob Shearing, CEO at the Road Safety Markings Association, said: “Edge lines aren’t necessarily the first road safety solution that springs to mind for local authorities, but there is clearly a strong demand for them from drivers.
“These results show clearly that the absence of this critical visual deters people from driving on rural roads and roads at night, especially younger drivers. The next generation of drivers need to be confident in navigating any road at any time of the day, and it's clear, they currently aren’t.”
Shearing argues that Issues regarding poor visibility can be rectified by getting the basics right. “Road markings should be refreshed regularly, with an emphasis seen to rural roads that are seeing the most avoidance from drivers.”
