Here’s some news that isn’t terrifying in the slightest: British drivers are a massive pile-up waiting to happen. One in four of us have admitted to falling asleep at the wheel, one in ten have admitted to hitting a cyclist and six in ten think we’d fail a driving test if asked to sit one again. Time to move, we think.
The data, which comes from a survey commissioned by Slater & Gordon and involved 2,000 Brits shows the majority of motorists tend to break the law or drive irresponsibly on a regular basis, and seemingly no driving offence is off limits.
One in three drivers have hit another car while drying to park, a quarter have knowingly driven the wrong way down a one-way street, while a third of women admitted to using their mobile phone while behind the wheel. Men weren’t totally saintly, either. Blokes were found to be less likely to look properly on roundabouts, and more likely to jump red lights and pick up speeding tickets.
Driving tests, past or future, are of little use to any of us, it would seem. One in twenty motorists said they’d forgotten absolutely everything they were taught during their driving lessons, while 42 per cent said they’d forgotten most of it.
Unsurprisingly, six in ten think they’d fail a driving test if they had to sit one today.
Slater & Gordon sokesman Paul Kitson commented: “These statistics are really worrying as what can seem like a silly or minor lapse in judgement in driving can have disastrous consequences.
“We work with clients who experience the life changing effects of bad driving every day.
“It’s important to remember that driving can have terrible consequences if you don’t take it seriously.”
Quite.
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