Half of Irish motorists admit to speeding regularly

One in six Irish drivers says they have driven while over the alcohol limit, and almost half say they regularly speed, according to a survey to be published today.

Half of all motorists say they have suffered at the hands of aggressive behaviour from other drivers within the past year, yet a quarter admit to having behaved aggressively themselves, according to the report compiled for Hibernian Insurance.

Meanwhile, one in four drivers admits they sometimes use a mobile phone while travelling, and one in 12 says they read incoming text messages immediately even when driving.

And while there is broad agreement that recent safety measures have helped reduce collisions, 12 per cent of drivers believe the introduction of penalty points has made matters worse rather than better.

In a foreword to the report, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says it shows there is "broad support" for initiatives such as random breath-testing, the ban on using hand-held mobiles while driving and the penalty points system. However, there was no "one magic solution" to the the problem of road carnage.

The picture that emerges from the survey of 500 car owners is one in which motorists believe they are generally law-abiding but others are not. Three-quarters of respondents claim they never speed, but two-thirds go on to say other motorists do.

There is a clear ignorance about the legal alcohol limit, with half of those surveyed professing no idea what it is.

Nonetheless, the survey reveals strong support for tighter controls, with two-thirds of motorists saying they would favour zero tolerance for any level of driver alcohol.

Older drivers believe the behaviour of young drivers is a big cause of crashes, in addition to speed, alcohol and drugs. One in five said young people should be kept off roads completely until they reach the age of 21.

Eight out of 10 drivers said they could not operate without a car, and the survey showed little appetite for switching to other forms of transport.

About a third of commuting drivers admitted they could actually walk or cycle, while half of those surveyed said the main reason for not using public transport was because there are no routes available.

Drivers are lukewarm towards car-pooling, with three-quarters saying they had not considered this option. Two-thirds travel alone to work.

Underground transport in the cities is seen as the way to relieve traffic congestion by nine out of 10 drivers, and a similar proportion favour more trams for Dublin and other major cities.

Other solutions which command the support of a majority of motorists are the provision of more bus lanes and the staggering of school hours to spread the school run.

However, motorists are not prepared to pay more for using the road; three out of four expressed opposition to the introduction of congestion charges like those in London.

The average annual mileage is just under 14,000 miles, more than twice the European average and higher even than in the US. Commuting to work accounts for 40 per cent of all car journeys. More than 90 per cent of drivers say they always wear seat-belts.