A new survey of 1,100 drivers by Carrot Car Insurance suggests that while virtually all respondents consider themselves to be safe, significant numbers admitted to behaviours which could be considered dangerous.
The survey of drivers of all ages, published to coincide with Road Safety Week, revealed that 25% of respondents had been involved in a road collision – with almost a quarter of them admitting it was their own fault.
While 99% of respondents consider themselves a “safe driver”, 53% admitted to driving one handed and a fifth admitted to showing a “blatant disregard” for speed limits.
16% admitted to seeing red at other road users’ negligence, leaving them “seething with road rage and distracted from safe driving”; 6% owned up to tailgating; and 52% said they would be unable to travel without their mobile phone – described as a “scary statistic” by Carrot Insurance.
Carrot Insurance says that drivers aged 22 – 25 years appear to be most reckless, with 29% admitting to “putting their foot down” and 14% confessing to texting or making calls on the move. Interestingly, of those in the 17 – 21 age group, just 7% admitted to speeding and only 2% were tempted to make calls when driving.
Ed Rochfort, Carrot Car Insurance, says: “Our primary customer base is aged between 17-21, and this age group gets a lot of stick for their behaviour on the road. But contrary to popular opinion it seems that newly qualified motorists tend to be much more cautious than other drivers. Unfortunately, results show it’s those with a few years’ driving experience who have a tendency to behave less well behind the wheel.
“We all need to drive responsibly, and in order to cut the number of road deaths involving young drivers, it’s vital we educate people about staying safe on the road and nip bad habits in the bud.
“At Carrot, we believe in educating drivers from early on and rewarding them for good driving but we must continue to emphasise the importance of safe and careful driving among drivers of all ages to prevent unnecessary crashes and fatalities, which is why we are championing National Road Safety Week.”
Mr. Benz had no great expectation of his invention the motor car, saying that there would be only a few people in the world capable of driving them. But (as an electronic consultant friend said to engineers abandoning a project) “How do you know what you can achieve if you have never tried?”
I assume Bob Craven was being (justifiably) sarcastic, but I predict that it will be a very long time indeed before automated motor cars are less likely to crash than those with human drivers. Nor am I at all keen on driving a car on roads shared with automated cars, and relying not only on their electronic systems to work properly but also on their software being able to handle safely every possible emergency. Nor will drivers used to doing other things while the car drives itself be in any way capable of taking over rapidly enough when things go wrong.
Idris Francis Fight Back with Facts Petersfield
0
By all accounts, according to the above data it’s looking like self drive cars would indeed be a godsend. They will automatically miss each other irrespective of what the person in the driver’s seat is doing, obviously they can lawfully be involved in some other function or pastime. Incidents involving collisions will be a thing of the past, or if not at least they will be automatically reported to the police and insurance companies at the site of the incident… electronically. What a good idea – has no one thought of that?
Bob Craven Lancs
0
I’m guessing the questions in the survey are not asked when you ring up for an insurance quote! “Yes I am a reckless driver. Yes I do drive with one hand because the ‘phone’s usually in the other one. Why do you ask?”
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
0