WITH quite a number of road deaths since the beginning of the new year, new research from AA Ireland has revealed that some Irish motorists are still too heavy on the accelerator.
In an AA Motor Insurance survey, 21.07% of more than 7,000 admitted that they had broken the speed limit within the past month. Meanwhile, a further 8.76% and 10.13% admitted to speeding within the past 6 months and within the last year respectively.
Despite the increase in traffic on Irish roads, there was some positive news as the survey found that over a third of motorists, 35.06%, have never broken the speed limit. However, male drivers were significantly more likely to have broken the speed limit while driving, with just 28.11% stating they had never sped compared to 40.08% of women.
Over a quarter of male drivers surveyed admitted to breaking the limit within the past month, almost 8% higher than the number of female motorists who had sped within the same time frame
“When it comes to road safety there is no doubt that speeding kills and puts the driver, their passengers and all other road users in unnecessary risk. While these findings did contain some positive news, it appears that many motorists still hold the perception that speeding is, for some reason acceptable,” AA director of consumer affairs, Conor Faughnan stated.
“Last year represented a step backwards in terms of road safety as we saw road deaths increase year-on-year and as part of ensuring that 2016 doesn’t represent a new trend is making simple changes to our own driving behaviours,” he added.
According to the research, drivers aged 36-45 were the most likely to have broken the speed limit within the past month, with 26.30% of drivers in this age bracket admitting to speeding. Older drivers were the least likely to have recently broken the speed limit, with just 14.45% of those over 65 admitting to having broken the speed limit in the month preceding the survey.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.