Now if you’re an experienced driver it isn’t something you particularly want to hear (backseat drivers are a bugbear of many!), but more often than not it is said with the best intentions to help prevent an accident. And judging by the results of a survey of over 2000 drivers we commissioned, we need to keep saying it!
From using a mobile phone, to putting make-up on or shutting their eyes when driving through a narrow space, some drivers are not fully concentrated on the task of driving.
Young people appear to be the worst culprits with 15% of under 34s saying they check text messages whilst driving, and 7% applying make-up at the traffic lights. The same age group also appear to have an issue with securing their satnavs properly, as 21% said it regularly falls off the windscreen, forcing them to pick it up and therefore lose focus on the road ahead.
The survey also revealed 21% of drivers have shut their eyes when going through a narrow space (surely the time to have your eyes wide open, no?!), ducked when driving under a bridge or something low or breathed in going through a narrow space.
Ben Wooltorton, a director here at InsuretheGap.com, says: “What the survey didn’t tell us was how many people are lip-syncing to their favourite tunes when they’re driving! It is a worry, however, the number of drivers who are admitting to taking big risks whilst driving, particularly as we know people are often economical with the truth when they’re talking about things they shouldn’t be doing.”
