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Teddy bear with seatbelt via Shutterstock

10 per cent of Irish drivers still don't buckle up

A new survey has revealed that drivers in Ireland are speeding, tailgating and forgetting to dim their lights like nobody’s business.

A NEW SURVEY has revealed that ten per cent of drivers in Ireland have taken to the road without a seatbelt in the past year.

The poll, commissioned by Liberty Insurance also showed that over half of all drivers have broken the speed limit in the last year with men more likely to do so than women.

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

Both men and women are guilty of taking their eyes off the road with almost one in five drivers admitting to eating, shaving, applying makeup and brushing their hair while driving, though hopefully not all at once.

The research also showed that drivers are not always so up front about their behaviour as the 4 per cent who admitted to forcing someone to pull in to allow an overtake is at odds with over half of drivers who say they’ve experienced this.

Two-thirds of drivers have experienced another driver not using their indicator while overtaking but only 15 per cent admitted to it.

Perhaps most worryingly, only 1 per cent of people in the survey 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 per cent unnecessarily beeping the horn compared to 16 per cent of women, while a quarter of women admit to having taken more than three turns when trying to park compared to 17 per cent of men.

Read: Uninsured drivers responsible for 7 per cent of vehicle damage>
Read: Nissan Ireland warns of ‘loose steering wheel’ glitch in some 14,000 Micras>

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    Mute Michelle Byrne
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    Nov 19th 2012, 6:31 PM

    Its tough for a family to lose a family member so far from home. God rest him.

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    Mute B Collins
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    Nov 19th 2012, 6:19 PM

    Rest in peace.

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    Mute SkepticallySpeaking
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    Nov 19th 2012, 6:30 PM

    every parent’s worst nightmare, rip

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    Mute Jimmy Myers
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    Nov 19th 2012, 7:30 PM

    Deaths on roads happen in every country,very sad news for family and friends and the young lad on the other side of the world RIP.

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    Mute dave pratt
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    Nov 19th 2012, 8:12 PM
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    Mute Den Ni Chroinin
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    Nov 19th 2012, 8:17 PM

    Shocking story. How much can the dispute have been over, a couple of dollars!!

    RIP

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    Mute mick lennon
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    Nov 19th 2012, 11:08 PM

    Jesus that’s appalling,what a terrible waste of life over a couple of bucks,god rest his soul

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    Mute Máire Lenihan
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    Nov 20th 2012, 3:17 AM

    That’s an awful story. A young man killed in the prime of his life and his poor friend having to witness this. I took a journey with a Sydney cab a couple of weeks ago. The driver was one of the rudest people I’ve ever met and refused to help me even though I was struggling with luggage. This was during the day and I really felt he didn’t deserve my money. I hope this man gets jailed for this.

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    Mute Cathleen O Connor
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    Nov 19th 2012, 11:24 PM

    Thinking of the family at this difficult time

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    Mute Lauren McEnery
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    Nov 20th 2012, 1:33 AM

    Heard it on the radio yesterday here in Perth. Taxi drivers are in the news a couple of times a week over things like this and people attacking them. It’s ridiculous

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    Mute Dave Mc Evoy
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    Nov 20th 2012, 7:54 AM

    May he R.I.P.

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    Mute Jessica
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    Nov 20th 2012, 6:17 AM

    A 26 year old Perth taxi driver has been charged with dangerous driving causing fatal injuries to his passenger.

    A police statement has confirmed that an argument between the driver and Ryan took place regarding the fare.

    The report stated, “As a passenger was exiting the vehicle the driver accelerated the vehicle, causing the passenger to fall to the ground, where he received life-threatening injuries.”

    That’s what happened, it was all over the news over here.

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    Mute Mad Taoiseach
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    Nov 20th 2012, 8:00 AM

    Tragedy. Au be test in peace.
    May the justice system work properly in WA.

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