12 million motorists ‘guilty’ of careless driving

More than one in three (37 per cent) motorists are guilty of driving without due care and attention according to new research carried out on UK streets by Direct Line Car Insurance.

Direct Line employed the services of an independent research team who observed the driving behaviour of 11,000 motorists in 10 cities across the UK over two weeks. The researchers recorded over two thousand actual instances of offences, which would be classed as careless driving.

Careless driving is a serious offence and a conviction carries three to nine penalty points and fines up to £2500.

The most common type of careless driving observed were motorists failing to indicate. Researchers found close to a third (32 per cent) of drivers failed to indicate while changing lanes or turning into a junction.

Failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing was also noted as a serious problem. Close to a fifth (17 per cent) of motorists observed at a pedestrian crossing failed to stop for a member of the public when they were waiting to cross – an offence which carries three penalty points and a fine of up to £1,000. Researchers posted in Lancashire showed that Manchester’s motorists were the least considerate at a crossing, with close to half (45 per cent) ignoring a pedestrian and failing to bring their vehicle to a halt.

Widespread mobile phone usage was also spotted by the Direct Line researchers, with five per cent of motorists, regularly ignoring the law and continuing to drive whilst talking or texting on their phones.

Across the country, observations in Birmingham indicated that they were the worst culprits for using a mobile while driving, with close to one in five (16 per cent) caught doing so. Previous Direct Line research has proved that driving whilst using a handheld phone is actually more dangerous than driving whilst over the drink-drive limit.

Plus it seems that drivers will do anything to save time – a further five per cent were spotted eating and drinking, reading maps, brushing their hair and even putting on make-up whilst behind the wheel.

The Direct Line findings revealed that across the nation, motorists in Norwich appeared to be the most considerate drivers. They were found more likely to indicate and stop at a pedestrian crossing and less likely to use their mobiles while driving.

However at the other end of the scale, careless drivers were more likely to come from Leeds, which appears to have less considerate drivers than even London, traditionally thought of as the place with the most aggressive drivers.

Starting with the poorest drivers, the five worst offenders are:

Leeds (Yorkshire)
Manchester (Lancashire)
Bristol (West Country)
London
Birmingham (Midlands)

Emma Holyer, Direct Line motor spokesperson said: ”We conducted the research to find out how many drivers are flouting the law and our findings are shocking. Careless driving is a major cause of accidents – and aside from the increased risk of causing a crash, a careless driving offence carries severe penalties so we are reminding motorists to take care, keep their full concentration on their driving and brush up on the rules as detailed in the Highway Code.”