Over half of all Irish drivers have admitted to driving over the speed limit in the last year with men more likely to do so (64%) than women (49%), according to new research. 

The top three bad habits that Irish drivers have admitted to are driving over the speed limit (56%), forgetting to dim lights when meeting on-coming cars (31%) and driving too close to the car in front (22%). 

Worryingly, 10% admitted to driving without a seatbelt in the past year and both sexes are guilty of taking their eye off the road with almost one in five of the driving population having admitted to eating, shaving, applying makeup or brushing hair while driving.

Interestingly, the research also shows that what we admit to is often at odds with what other drivers experience on the road. For example, almost half of Irish drivers have experienced another driver forcing them to pull in to allow an overtake manoeuvre while only 4% admitted to doing this.Two-thirds of drivers have experienced another driver not using their indicator while overtaking but only 15% admitted to it. Most worryingly, only 1% admitted to driving without a seatbelt while children were in the car while almost 2 in 5 drivers have said they observed this in the past year. 

The research, conducted by Millward Brown, also saw men admit to suffering more from frustration on the road with 24% unnecessarily beeping the horn compared to 16% of women while a quarter of women admit to having taken more than three turns when trying to park compared to 17% of men.

The research has been published to mark the start of Liberty Insurance’s Safe Driver Campaign which offers safe drivers 50% off their car insurance until 12^th July, 2013. To find out more about Liberty Insurance’s Safe Driver offer log onto www.Libertyinsurance.ie or call 1890 89 1890.