People who take liberties in their driving, take liberties with health guidelines
With high traffic volumes expected on the Europen roads this summer, the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation has published the results of its 'Responsible Driving Barometer' survey which Ipsos conducted on their behalf.
This wide-ranging survey, conducted among 12,400 people in 11 European countries, provides an overview of the behaviour and perceptions of Europeans behind the wheel. It makes it possible to monitor the evolution of risky behaviours and good practices in order to better target prevention campaigns in France and other European countries. In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, it also looked at how attitudes towards the traffic code correlated with attitudes towards public health measures.
Main findings
Traffic code and public health guidelines: bending the rules here and there is common
- More than 7 in 10 European drivers (75%) admit that they have violated the traffic code and 7 in 10 do not always follow public health regulations.
- 45% of Europeans follow health guidelines primarily out of a concern for others, compared to only 33% who follow the traffic code for the same reason.
⇒ 77% of European drivers who take liberties with the traffic code do the same with public health guidelines.
Inattentiveness: drivers continue to pay less attention to the road
- 53% of European drivers talk on the phone while driving by using a Bluetooth system (+3 points over one year and +10 points over 5 years), even though this is still as distracting as other ways to talk on the phone1 .
- 43% set their GPS while driving (+4 points over 5 years).
⇒11% have had or nearly had an accident because they were using their phone while driving.
Incivilities: despite some behavioural changes, there is still plenty of tension on the road
- 12% of European drivers (-4 points over one year) admit that they become someone else behind the wheel.
- 52% (-3) say that they sometimes insult other drivers.
⇒ 84% have felt afraid of other drivers’ aggressive behaviour.
Drowsiness: risk-taking is still too widespread and some best practices are down
- 40% of European drivers (-5 points) don’t follow the recommended practice of taking a break every 2 hours, even though 73% of them are aware of it.
- 52% stop en route to take a nap.
⇒ 12% have had or nearly had an accident due to falling asleep at the wheel.
Motorway road worker safety: high levels of indifference may lead to serious consequences
- 51% of European drivers forget to slow down in work zones (-3).
Whether they are part of the traffic code or public health guidelines, rules are often seen more as constraints than as a form of protection. When drivers allow themselves to bend the rules a little, they are focusing on their immediate benefit and ignoring the potential risk of an accident, hoping that they are in enough control to avoid it. The vast majority of accidents, however, occur when people have not fully accounted for the risks of violating the traffic code.
- Bernadette Moreau, General Delegate of the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation for responsible driving
Click here to see the detailed results, or download the full report below.
