Most motorists believe driving behaviour has worsened

A majority of motorists believe that driver behaviour in Ireland has worsened in recent years, according to recent research from AA Ireland.

In response to a survey of over 7,000 Irish motorists undertaken by AA Car Insurance, 30.80% of respondents strongly agreed that motorist behaviour had worsened in the last few years. Meanwhile, a further 35.11% of those surveyed partially agreed that this was the case, with just 3.40% of respondents strongly disagreeing with the claim that driver behaviour had worsened.

The AA survey also found that less than 1 in 12 motorists strongly agree that the recent government is taking necessary action to improve road safety.

Just 7.88% of respondents stated that the strongly agreed that the government was treating road safety as a priority. Meanwhile, a further 37.10% somewhat agreed that government was prioritising road safety, with almost a third of respondents (32.18%) partially or strongly disagreeing that the government was making adequate efforts to keep roads safe.

“Despite the 4% increase in road deaths recorded in Ireland last year, we have still made significant advances in improving our road safety record compared to prior decades. However, the slow recovery of the strength of the Garda Traffic Corps from the cuts made during the recession has had a negative impact on road safety which played a role in the increase in road deaths seen in 2019,” Conor Faughnan of AA Ireland added.

“Gardaí are doing the best they can with their existing resources to enforce legal driving behaviour, but they are still significantly under-resourced and we would strongly encourage whichever party or parties that make up our next government to pursue a more aggressive strategy in growing Garda numbers.”