KEEP YOUR EYES on the road this morning – especially if you plan to drive and preen.

A new international study from Allianz, seen by TheJournal.ie, shows that 27 per cent of those surveyed admitted to having worked on their styling, clothing or body care while behind the wheel. This category included activities such as:

• Putting on jewellery or watches
• Checking their clothing
• Adjusting their hairstyle
• Investigating skin or teeth
• Nail care
• Changing their glasses
• Putting on sunscreen
• Taking medication
• Putting on or removing a neck tie
• Changing into comfortable shoes

Drivers are most likely to attend to these matters while on a work commute. One in five of those surveyed admitted they had changed an item of clothing while behind the wheel.

Allianz noted that applying make-up was one of the riskiest tasks carried out by motorists – research shows that it distract around 40 per cent of a driver’s attention and increases the risk of an accident threefold.

The survey was carried out across 22,000 people in the UK, France, Austria and Ireland.

An AA survey for Ireland’s driving habits last year found that Irish drivers are indeed easily distracted. Nearly a quarter of women surveyed in that study admitted to applying make-up while driving while 4 per cent of men said they had used an electric shaver while behind the wheel.

Eating and drinking while driving a ‘major distraction’, says AA>