Congestion diverting drivers onto higher risk roads, says IAM RoadSmart

22 June 2026

New research by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart shows more than half of drivers (54%) have diverted away from a motorway or main A road onto riskier rural roads because of congestion over the last year.

Other key figures include:

• 42% of drivers have experienced a mid-journey change from their sat-navs which ended up rerouting them away from the main network onto country lanes.
• 60% were forced to do the same thing because of a road closure.
• Department for Transport data shows a significant increase in the number of vehicles on our roads in the last decade.
  • By the end of 2015, there were 37,344,511 licenced vehicles in the UK.
  • By the end of 2025, this had increased by 13% to a near record 42,283,514 vehicles.
• Over the same period, average delays per vehicle on the strategic road network have increased from 8.6 seconds for the year ending 2015 to 11.2 seconds by September 2025.
• Total vehicle miles reached almost 338 billion for the year ending September 2025.
• Despite carrying 45% of traffic, 60% of all road fatalities occur on a rural road.

The road safety charity says that traffic shifting to rural roads may encounter additional hazards including tractors, wildlife, narrow lanes and restricted views from roadside foliage.

IAM RoadSmart Director of Policy and External Communications Nicholas Lyes said: “Every year, more people are killed on a rural road than any other road type yet worryingly we’re seeing a high number of people taking unplanned diversions to use them.

“Congestion is inevitable, but we would encourage people to question if a diversion onto an unclassified or single-track route is worth saving a few minutes considering the increased hazards they might face. Often, other people following sat-navs will similarly divert and you end up with traffic volumes that exceed what the road is designed for and may ultimately not save time the diverted driver expects.

“Traffic growth shows little sign of abating, yet without a commitment to increase capacity on the wider strategic network, we may see more traffic filtering onto the rural road network, with potentially grave consequences.”

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