Over half of motorists in Ireland admitted to eating or drinking while behind the wheel - with a new study revealing the worst habits that drivers have admitted to.
A whopping 54% of respondents to the consumer research, conducted by iReach Insights on behalf of Aviva Insurance Ireland, admitted to chowing down or taking a sup while on the road.
It came out top of the list for bad habits, though a number of other issues surfaced in the same survey.
Driving over the speed limit is another big problem, with 45% of people admitting to doing it, with not letting other drivers out at junctions (25%) and letting the fuel tank run too low (25%) and forgetting to indicate (25%) rounding out the top five.
Only 14% of drivers claimed to having no bad driving habits.
The Aviva survey found:
- Habits like resting your foot on the clutch (24%), talking/texting on the phone (17%), looking up directions on the phone (16%), and road rage (13%)
- Men are more likely to drive over the speed limit (53%) than women at 37%
- Some 30% of men admit to not letting people out at junctions compared to 19% of women
- More women admitted to letting the fuel tank run too low at 28% v’s men at 22% and to forgetting to indicate at 27% v’s men at 22%
- Resting your foot on the clutch was more evident amongst women respondents at 31%, with only 17% of men claiming to do this
The survey also sought to get an insight into what are the biggest stress factors experienced by motorists when driving.
Top of the list was poor driving behaviour by other motorists at 29% followed by road rage and aggressive driving (16%) and sitting in traffic (15%).
Other stress factors included driving in poor weather conditions (8%), parking in narrow spaces in public car parks (6%) and people parking in family/disabled parking spots when they shouldn’t (6%).
- Slightly more women (30%) than men (27%) listed poor driving behaviour as cause of stress when driving
- More men (21%) registered road rage/aggressive behaviour than women at 11% and sitting in traffic (18%) v’s women at 12%
Commenting on the survey findings Billy Shannon, Aviva said: "Despite the fact that road traffic remains below 2019 levels, provisional figures from An Garda Siochana say that 99 people lost their lives on our roads up to 8 August this year.
"These tragic deaths only serve to reinforce how vulnerable we are when driving.
“While we cannot control the behaviour of others on our roads, we can control how we behave. Driving within the speed limits while taking into account weather conditions and having respect for other road users may slow us down somewhat but will ultimately help us get to our destination safely."
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