Nearly half of drivers aged under 34 years admit to being annoyed by learners on the road, a new survey suggests.
In the survey of 500 drivers aged 18-34 years, carried out by the young driver telematics insurance provider ingenie, 45% of respondents admitted to being irritated by the behaviour of learners.
Of those who confessed to being annoyed, the number one issue is driving too slowly (38%), followed by taking lessons during rush hour (22%).
Other irksome behaviours include stalling at junctions and lights (17%), making mistakes such as indicating wrongly (14%) and blocking the road when performing manoeuvres (9%)
With many young people learning to drive over the summer holiday period, ingenie is urging drivers to remember that they were learners once and to give them space when out on the road.
Selim Cavanagh, ingenie CEO, said: “Many of us get frustrated behind slow drivers, but we know from feedback within our learner driver community that lessons and private practice can be stressful and pressure from other drivers can make things worse.
“Tailgating and unsafe overtaking is dangerous for all drivers on the road. Our driver support team advises ingenie drivers who are following a learner to give them space and only overtake if it’s safe to do so at a legal speed.”
Advice for parents
Jo Silvester, driving instructor and member of Swindon Young Drivers, has offered advice to parents when giving private practice.
Jo said: “If your car is being tailgated while your learner is driving, the common reaction is to increase speed to get away from the vehicle, however this only results in the tailgating happening at a higher speed.
“Instead advise your learner to slowly increase the gap between your car and whatever is ahead. If the following car does not overtake but continues to drive too close, stay calm and find a safe place to turn off the road.
“There are some amazing, helpful drivers out there and please remember, when you are driving behind the next learner, give them a little more space.”
Is that immaturity raising its head?
David Matthews, Desborough
0
Another pointless survey carried out.
Presumably someone at Ingenie needs to justify their job role.
Keith
+3
This 45% must be those who think they have priority over everyone on the roads and that their journey is more important than anyone else’s. Patience is a virtue when behind the wheel.
ps what was the point of this survey anyway?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
+2