 Brits understand road safety the best, but ignore it the most: A new report says Brits are the most safety conscious in Europe when it comes to driving. About 92% of us considered using a mobile phone without a hands-free kit to be dangerous, compared to just 85% of other European drivers. In addition, while 92% of British motorists viewed drink driving as unacceptable, the percentage fell to 85 among their European counterparts.
The results were based on a road safety survey carried out by AXA, Swiftcover's parent company. The group interviewed 800 motorists from Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. (What, no French?)
Yet just how reliable, or useful, is AXA's data? In June 2007 an international panel of road safety experts concluded that the UK was actually lagging behind the rest of Europe in improving its road safety. Data from 2006 put the UK in sixth place for road fatalities. The five countries with the fewest road deaths were:
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Norway
Only one of which appears in the AXA survey.
In a discussion centred on the European Transport Safety Council's Road Safety Performance Index, comparing EU members' performances, and the DfT's 3 year review - the UK's position was summarised as follows:
- The number of people killed on UK roads dropped by just 7% in 2001-2005, compared to around 35% in France and 25% in Sweden and the Netherlands.
- UK seat belt use (in the front seat) stood at 90% - lower than France, Germany and Malta .
- Drink driving deaths in the UK had actually risen when compared to other deaths.
- Although the average driving speed in the UK had gone down on urban roads and 70 mph on all-purpose roads, it had gone up by 9% on 60 mph roads since 2001. Meanwhile, France, Belgium and Switzerland had seen speed reductions on all types of roads.
A DfT road safety compliance consultation paper published in November 2008 showed there were 2,946 deaths on UK roads in 2007 marking a new low, the figure having fallen below the 3,000 mark for the first time in 80 years.
However, in terms of drink driving a policy paper published by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in May 2007 referred to a Home Office survey in which 44% of motorists said they had driven after drinking in the previous year. Even more damningly, one in eight admitted they had driven believing they were over the limit.
What's more, according to a recent report in The Telegraph, in a poll carried out by Which Car? magazine 93% respondents said they had seen someone using a hand-held mobile while driving in the previous week. 36% then confessed to using a hand-held mobile themselves while driving. This, in spite of fact that doing so makes you four times more likely to crash.
So it seems that when asked if they think they are safe drivers, Brits will say "yes". But when asked if they drink drive, speed or use a mobile phone whilst at the wheel, they say "yes" also. †
 Latest News
|
|
» Parishioners to be asked to pay for Priest Sex Abuse Compensation?
» Wife Swapping to save on Car Insurance
» Can things get worse for honest Brits? Oh, yes!
» Unethical business practices encouraged by government appointed bodies
» Marry your daughter to save on car insurance
 NCD News Channel
|
|
Loading...
| Popular Insurers
|
|
| Other Insurance News
|
|
» Despite Soaring Insurance Premiums, Young Men Are Still Buying Fast Cars
» "Can you really cope with a stock market collapse?" FSA Stress Test is Stressing Insurers
» What credit crunch? Swinton insurance buying and hiring
» The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC): Worth cancelling that £10 Travel Insurance for?
» Could the Japanese or Saudis really buy Manchester United, Newcastle United, West Ham and more during this credit crunch?
» "Crash for cash" insurance fraud being tackled but stronger punishments needed
» Could your insurance be invalid because you didn't change your spark plugs last month?
» Top 10 Cheapest Cars to Insure
|
NCD News: Brits are know-it-alls - 22.12.08
>> NCD News: 
