Drivers At Work Worst For Speeding And Tailgating

Nine people a day die on UK roads and around ninety sustain serious injury. The sad fact is that most of these deaths and injuries could be prevented.

Speeding is recognised as one of the main contributory factors in around 27% of UK road deaths. Driving faster means there is less time to react and impacts are much harder, and therefore more damaging. About 75% of people who drive as part of their job, admit to speeding at more than 80mph on motorways and 77% admit to driving at 35mph in 30mph zones. Whereas about 49% of other drivers say that they exceed the motorway speed limit and 62% say that they exceed the 30mph speed limit.

Tailgatng has been cited as another significant contributory factor in at least 54 deaths in 2006. Around 60% of people who drive for a living admit that they do not leave the recommended 2 second gap between them and the vehicle in front. Around 40% of drivers who are not at work say they do not leave the required gap between them and the vehicle in front.

Research conducted by Brake, the road safety charity, indicates that the majority of drivers who are at work feel pressurised to complete their journeys quickly, resulting in their excess speeds and tailgating. Excess speed combined with tailgating is a recipe for disaster that has led to far too many deaths and injuries on British roads.

There is some excellent, sensible advice on the Brake website. Remember, kill your speed and keep your distance. It’s always better to be late than dead!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Car and Van Info. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.