Motorists admit drink driving and speeding

IRISH motorists are in danger of overestimating their own compliance with important road safety legislation such as drink driving and speeding limits, a major new survey has revealed.

One-in-six drivers admit they have driven while over the legal alcohol limit and almost half claim they regularly break speed limits, according to the report.

The findings are contained in the first edition of a new annual survey on attitudes and behaviour of Irish motorists, commissioned by Hibernian Insurance.

The report — Moving in the Right Direction? — reveals that almost 60% believe that the introduction of penalty points in 2002 has had no positive effect on road safety.

A similar percentage, however, believe random breath testing, which was introduced last summer, has had a significant impact on reducing collisions.

Three-in-five drivers also believe that speed limits are set too low. Worryingly, almost half of all motorists have no idea of the legal alcohol limit.

The survey also shows how most motorists believe they are generally law-abiding, while maintaining that the majority of other drivers regularly break traffic laws.

Hibernian managing director, Dick O’Driscoll, said the survey’s findings were somewhat contradictory, in that three-quarters of those surveyed claimed they never break the speed limit, yet maintain that two-thirds of other motorists speed.

Mr O’Driscoll also called for change to Ireland’s unique system of testing, which allows provisional licence holders to drive away from the test centre unaccompanied after failing a driving test.

“There’s also a strong view that the driving test should be made more comprehensive,” he added.

Mr O’Driscoll also expressed concern that motorists believed recent road safety initiatives such as penalty points, safety cameras and random breath testing had a limited effect.

A small majority believe safety cameras are more about generating revenue for the State than about improving road safety.

Many respondents also claimed that garda resources were inadequate, despite the establishment and expansion of the Garda Traffic Corps.

Half of all motorists report having been on the receiving end of some form of road rage within the past 12 months, while one in four confess to having behaved aggressively themselves.

The most common causes of frustration among Irish motorists are the behaviour of other road-users, followed by the quality of roads and traffic congestion.

Although it is now illegal to use a mobile phone when driving, one-in-12 motorists say they read text message immediately when driving.

Nevertheless, half of those surveyed believe mobile phones are a significant factor in road collisions.

Large numbers of motorists said the most important reason why they do not use public transport is the poor availability of routes.

In urban areas, they complain about the unreliability of services and the large number of connections to make commuting possible.

A third of drivers acknowledge that they could walk or cycle to work, but choose not to do so.