The number of ‘fail to give way’ crashes at rural crossroads are rising - even where junctions are clearly signed - because in-vehicle navigation can override driver attention and create automation bias. Collision evidence, case studies and human factors research show this is acute for long distance drivers on unfamiliar routes, who are over-represented in high severity impacts at these sites. 

Traditional low cost engineering (enhanced signage, high friction surfacing, islands) often under delivers at ‘see through’ junctions, while major realignments—though effective—cost millions and cannot be scaled across thousands of locations.

This presentation proposes a national, technology led intervention: integrating mandatory or enhanced Stop/Give Way alerts within sat nav platforms. The road safety team at Devon CC will work with Ordnance Survey to encode junction priority more explicitly in authoritative datasets and ensure this information is reliably passed through to in vehicle navigation systems—systematically reducing risk at rural crossroads. 

Alignment with the Road Safety Strategy: The proposal is rooted in the Safe System approach and directly supports the Strategy’s four themes—particularly “taking advantage of technology, innovation and data” and “ensuring infrastructure is safe.” It complements local engineering by adding a consistent, in-vehicle safety layer nationwide.

Evaluation: Impact will be assessed via before and after collision analysis on treated cohorts, behavioural studies on responses to in-vehicle prompts, and cost–benefit modelling that compares Ordnance Survey data enablement with traditional works. The project team expects a strong return on investment, with collision cost savings likely to exceed implementation costs.

Nigel Flower, Safer Travel Strategic Officer, Devon County Council

Nigel Flower is a Safer Travel Strategic Officer with the Road Safety Team at Devon County Council. In this role, he works on the development and delivery of evidence-led interventions to reduce road casualties and improve safety for all road users.

Nigel has extensive experience in road safety and collision investigation, with particular expertise in collision data analysis, road safety audit, and wet skid investigation. His work supports a range of behaviour change and educational initiatives, including Learn2Live, Driving Safer For Longer, and community focused road safety projects.

He regularly collaborates with partners across local authorities, emergency services, and the voluntary sector, translating complex data into practical, targeted interventions that address real world risk on the road network.

Wes Clift, Government Relations Manager, Ordnance Survey

Wes Clift is a Government Relations Manager at Ordnance Survey, working within the National Security and Resilience sector. He has extensive experience in geospatial data and public sector collaboration, with a strong focus on supporting emergency services through innovative, data driven solutions. Wes works closely with police, fire, ambulance and resilience partners to demonstrate how authoritative geospatial data can improve public safety, operational efficiency and decision making, both in day to day operations and during major national events such as the G7 and Commonwealth Games.

He has played a key role in establishing Regional Emergency Services Geospatial Working Groups, creating forums for collaboration, shared learning and the practical application of location data across agencies. Through this work, Wes has helped position Ordnance Survey as a trusted data provider, facilitator and advisor to the emergency services community. He is widely recognised for his ability to build strong stakeholder relationships and translate complex geospatial capability into real world operational benefit.