The AA has conducted a survey of nearly 7000 Irish motorists and the results show that most people feel that Irish driving standards have improved in the last 10 years – but not by much.
A total of 43 per cent of respondents felt that car drivers had improved in the last decade, but 37.5 per cent said that they had got worse - including 28 per cent of those surveyed in Mayo; 31.9 per cent felt that truck drivers had improved, but 31.2 per cent said they had not; 28.6 per cent said that motorcyclists had improved, but 26.3 per cent said not. Cyclists came out worst in the survey but again only marginally – 28.2 per cent said their behaviour had got better but 30.9 per cent said they had got worse.
“In overall terms, Irish road death numbers have improved greatly, and that’s the most important measure of all,” said director of policy Conor Faughnan. “But there is no doubt that we have a long way to go. Our survey showed that Irish drivers still have lots of bad habits, and in terms of everyday discipline on the roads we do not compare well to other countries in Europe, even as our improving road safety record begins to match theirs. In fact foreign drivers in particular seem to find Irish driving behaviour to be poor, based on the comments that we received.”
In addition to the main findings, the AA poll also yielded 894 detailed comments on Irish driving behaviour. Motorists complain of all sorts of crazy behaviour on the roads. The major issued raised were:
• Mobile phone use. Over 100 comments were made stating that mobile phone users are one of the main hazards that we face on the roads.
• Speeding – Motorists complained of a worsening culture of impatience and speed, often blamed on the values that were prevalent during the Celtic Tiger years.
• Aggressive driving and tailgating
• Inability to use motorways correctly – over 50 of the 894 comments received mentioned motorway use, and interestingly many of these observations came from drivers who had learnt to drive in other countries, mostly the UK but also USA, Australia and continental Europe.
• The behaviour of cyclists, especially in Dublin city, where 38 per cent of people felt their behaviour had worsened in the noughties while only 25.6 per cent said they had improved.
“This is disappointing when we want to promote cycling in the cities. However we have to see it in context. Cycling numbers are up, which is a very good thing, and that means that more cyclists are visible on the streets so it is not much of a surprise that there are more complaints,” said Mr Faughnan. “Most of our towns and cities still do not cater well enough for cyclists in terms of cycle lanes and facilities, and in fairness many of the comments from AA panel members made this point.”
The same poll showed that 10.5 per cent of motorists cycle regularly, and 2.7 per cent do so on a daily basis. In Dublin, 12.7 per cent of motorists are regular cyclists and 4.1 per cent cycle on a daily basis.
