AA survey: 70% of Irish drivers admit speeding

SEVEN OUT of 10 motorists admitted to breaking a speed limit during the last year, according to a survey by AA Ireland.

The online survey, which received more than 10,500 responses from its members, also found that half of all motorists paid between €150 and €300 to have their car serviced last year.

Conor Faughnan of AA Ireland said the number of people admitting to breaking the speed limit was surprising and disappointing.

"It probably tells us a lot about driver behaviour and attitudes. Motorists know it is dangerous to speed but they still do - although part of the reason might be inappropriate speed limits which are a source of huge frustration."

Faughnan said the fact that 46 per cent of motorists admitted to speeding in the four weeks prior to the survey indicated the scale of the issue.

He said this disregard for speed limits existed despite more than 40 per cent of motorists saying they had been stopped at a Garda checkpoint in the past year.

The survey posed a series of questions to AA Ireland members earlier this year, asking about their experience of driving in this country.

Among its findings were that the practice of giving a lift to a hitchhiker is coming to an end, with 60 per cent saying they had never done so, while only 6 per cent had offered a lift in the past 12 months.

Six per cent of drivers said they had been involved in a collision over the last year and a similar percentage said they had made an insurance claim.

When it comes to servicing a car, 50 per cent paid between €150 and €300, while just 14 per cent managed to get it done for less than €150.

Just under one in five drivers paid between €300 and €450 for a service and 6 per cent paid over €600.

Faughnan said the survey showed that 83 per cent of drivers had no penalty points, with 12 per cent having up to 2. Just under 2 per cent have 4 points.

With regard to journey times, one-quarter of respondents said they lived within 5km or less of their job or place of study.

The most common commute was between 10 and 30km, which accounted for 27 per cent of journeys.