Irish ahead on drink driving awareness

MORE Irish motorists rate drink driving as highly dangerous than any other Europeans, a survey has found.

A study of attitudes to road safety and driving behaviour established that 92% of Irish drivers find driving above the legal blood-alcohol limit to be dangerous compared with an EU average of 78%.

It comes as the introduction of a reduced legal limit has been promised under the Government’s Road Safety Strategy by this summer, despite strong opposition from some politicians and vintner groups.

Only 4% of Irish motorists admitted to getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming more than two alcoholic drinks — the lowest of any country in the survey.

Irish motorists are also more opposed to speeding and breaking traffic lights than most of their European counterparts.

The study, conducted by Axa Insurance, involved interviews with 800 motorists from Ireland and eight other EU countries including Italy, Spain and Britain.

The findings also revealed that a third of Irish drivers believe their driving behaviour has improved in the past two years, while eight out of 10 feel safer on Irish roads than in 2007.

“These results show us that Irish drivers are aware of the dangers associated with driving and they feel that our driving behaviour is improving due to the balance of awareness and education coupled with law enforcement,” said an Axa spokesperson.

For example, 49% of Irish motorists feel drivers should be more severely punished for traffic offences compared with just 28% in France.

In addition, just 6% of drivers in the Republic admitted to having been fined in the past year for a motoring offence compared with 24% in Germany and 23% in Switzerland.

Irish drivers also appear to be more influenced than their European counterparts by the threat of penalty points and road safety awareness campaigns.

Welcoming the survey, Road Safety Authority chief executive Noel Brett said the positive downward trend in road deaths — which saw the 2008 total of 279 as the lowest on record — was also reflected in the attitudes and reported behaviour of road users in the Axa findings.

“The highlights of this survey for me are that more Irish drivers feel safer on our roads today and are reporting positive improvements in their driving behaviour,” said Mr Brett.

However, Mr Brett said he was also concerned by the fact that twice as many Irish drivers admitted to using a mobile phone when driving compared with motorists in Britain.