Norfolk County Council is trialling a ‘radical’ new approach to rural road safety as part of a £1.5M government-funded demonstration project.

The three-year project encourages the council to explore innovative ways of improving road safety on all rural roads.

Measures to be trialled in northeast Norfolk include: taking away guarding of roadside trees; removing sign clutter and enhancing the village environment; half-metre run-off strips added at key points on fast A roads; and innovative hi-tech chasing chevrons on tight bends.

The council was awarded Beacon status for road safety in 2006 because of its record for reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI), which is down by almost half since the 1990s. Devon, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire – the other Beacon county councils – have also been selected for the project.

The scheme aims to address the ‘stubbornly high’ number of KSIs on rural roads across the country. In Norfolk, 40% of road crash fatalities take place on fast, rural A roads.

Other measures to be tested include drainage and skid-resistance improvement on B roads, and a new green derestriction sign to manage driver expectations of minor roads.

Adrian Gunson, Norfolk’s cabinet member for planning and transportation, said: ‘Although a high proportion of serious and fatal accidents happen on fast, rural A roads, they are dispersed throughout the network.

‘The measures we are taking aim to reduce the consequences of mistakes.’

Alec Byrne, chairman of the Norfolk Casualty Reduction Partnership, said the lessons learned could then be applied across Norfolk and the rest of the country.