Driving: What we think (according to Hibernian Insurance)

Hibernian Insurance has released the results of its first ever motoring report. The research, which was conducted amongst a representative sample of Irish drivers, was carried out to present the views of Irish motorists on a wide range of topics and to assess the trends, issues and attitudes prevalent amongst Irish motorists in the 21t Century Ireland.

According to the report the image of the “young boy racer” certainly seems to be embedded in the Irish motorists’ psyche as almost one-third of respondents believe that young people should be kept off the road completely until they are 21. Young inexperienced or overconfident drivers are seen by 15% of respondents as a major cause of collisions.

With the national driving test pass rate currently at only 55%, it seems clear that the standard of driving has room for improvement. More than 85% of respondents believe that provisional license holders should have to take a specified number of formal driving lessons before being allowed on the public road.

The Driving Standards Agency in the UK shows that the current average number of lessons a provisional license holder will require is 45 hours of tuition, with an additional 22 hours private practice to pass. The average number of driving lessons is Ireland is nine. A quarter of motorists holding provisional licenses in Ireland have yet to get any formal instruction, perhaps indicating that many learner drivers are holding off on driving lessons and the cost until they are called for their driving test.

Supplementary to bad driving standards, there is near-unanimity that speed, drugs and alcohol are the three big killers on Irish roads. Surprisingly drugs were cited by almost two thirds of respondents. It is arguable that if this survey was conducted five years ago drugs might not have featured as prominently as one of the major causes of collisions. In a study by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and the UCD Departments of Forensic Medicine and Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, 67.9% of apprehended and tested drivers, though found to have essentially zero levels of alcohol were positive for one or more defined drugs.

Another new worrying trend is the usage of mobile phones while driving – and not just for calling. Almost one in three say that they will read a text message when the car is stopped in traffic or at traffic lights. One in 12 say that they read text messages immediately — even when the car is in motion. And although small, a shocking four per cent of drivers regularly write text messages while they are driving in their cars.

Half of Irish motorists say they have suffered at the hands of aggressive behaviour from other drivers within the past year — but one quarter admits to having behaved aggressively themselves over the same period.