Irish motorists seem very confident in their driving abilities, yet admit to committing road traffic offences such as speeding, drink driving and breaking red lights, according to a new national survey on motorists' driving behaviour and attitudes.
The survey of 1,110 motorists reveals that 77.9 per cent knowingly break the speed limit, while 22.7 per cent admit to driving after consuming alcohol. Ironically, those surveyed also identified speeding and alcohol as two of the main causes of road accidents.
A further 24 per cent of car drivers use restricted bus lanes regularly or on occasion, 38.6 per cent have driven on the hard shoulder, while 27.2 per cent have driven through a red light either regularly or on occasion.
Despite the admissions of guilt, more than 86 per cent of motorists described themselves as excellent, good or very good drivers. Fewer than 11 per cent rate themselves as average drivers, and only 0.6 per cent said they were poor drivers.
In terms of speeding, drivers between the ages of 24 and 35 seem the worst offenders, with 84.9 admitting to speeding and 48.1 per cent exceeding the limit by more than 5mph. Women were less likely to offend, and less likely to exceed the limit by less than 5mph.
These details come as the Government admits that random breath testing and privatised speed cameras will not come into operation until late next year at the earliest.
The survey shows that 80 per cent of motorists never use public transport, and in spite of the congestion and rush hour traffic, 43.9 per cent still said driving was less stressful than taking public transport.
As far as commuting is concerned, 45 per cent of motorists spend between one and two hours every day travelling to work, while 14.3 per cent spend more than three hours on the road to work every day. This may be one reason for another finding of the survey - 13 per cent admitted they had nodded off at the wheel of their vehicle.
The survey was carried out by Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) on behalf of FBD Insurance and Advance Pitstop. According to Mr Terry Lennon, managing director of Advance Pitstop: "As a nation we are lax on rules and these findings clearly support that view. There even seems to be an awareness amongst motorists that we need to be better policed." The findings show that motorists rank more policing (20.7 per cent) and tougher penalty points (15.0 per cent) as the best way to improve road safety.
Insurance costs were identified by 23 per cent of respondents as their main concern, while 12 per cent listed road conditions and 10 per cent fuel prices. One worrying sign was that one in 10 motorists do not check their cars for roadworthiness, while one in four never check their tyre pressure.
Road rage is also an increasingly common occurrence, with three in five of those surveyed claiming to have experienced it, either as instigator or recipient. Encounters ranged from verbal abuse in 17.6 per cent of cases, to motorists being followed and even to physical contact.
"The benchmark survey, carried out in August and September is modelled on a similar in-depth survey of driver behaviour carried out in Australia," says Mr Adrian Taheny, executive director of insurance, marketing and sales at FBD. "This survey, and the ones that will follow every year, can be used as a measure of the effectiveness of road safety campaigns, allowing us to look at what the Government agencies do and then judge their impact."
So far this year, 341 people have died on the State's roads. That is 27 more than for the same period last year, and more than the total fatalities for 2003.