LONDON, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
With 16 million UK motorists set to take to the roads this Easter weekend, a new European survey finds that risky driving habits and failure to respect the rules are on the increase.
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The annual survey carried out for VINCI Autoroutes Foundation for Responsible Driving by IPSOS examined the behaviour of drivers from ten European countries. Each year, this survey draws up an inventory of driving practices and trends, allowing closer targeting of methods to prevent irresponsible driving and promote safer roads.
The survey results found that European drivers persist in engaging in risky driving behaviour, including going above the legal speed limit, using mobile phones and forgetting to wear their seatbelt. Survey results also indicate that while drivers tend to be satisfied with their own behaviour behind the wheel, they are very critical of their European neighbours.
Europeans are currently less optimistic that number of fatal road accidents will decline than they were in 2014. Only 55% of respondents polled believe that the number of people killed in traffic accidents will continue to decline significantly in coming years (61% in 2014).
European drivers believe that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is the main cause of fatal road accidents (62% overall,) but 12% of the respondents admit they would take to the wheel despite having exceeded the authorised alcohol limit.
In contrast to the overall results, UK drivers believed that not paying attention, for example using a mobile phone while driving, is the main cause of fatal road accidents (59%), followed by driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (46%), speeding (46%) and drowsiness (5%)
UK motorists considered sending text messages while driving to be significantly more risky than respondents in nine other European countries (UK 42%, Netherlands 37%, France 36%, Overall 29%).
Nine out of ten Europeans (91%) admitted exceeding the speed limit by a few m/hour, a practice that increased in all countries polled in 2014, notably UK (92%, +3) Sweden (95%, +8 points) and Belgium (94%, +8 points).
Europeans surveyed said that the most responsible drivers are from Sweden (37%), followed by Germany (27%) and UK and Netherlands (11%). The least responsible drivers are from Italy (31%), Greece (20%) and Poland (16%).
Survey participants came from ten countries; Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and UK.
Full survey results: http://www.vinci-autoroutes.com/fr/system/files/pdf/2015/04/vinci_-_gb-vf.pdf
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