DRIVERS' worst habits on the nation's fastest roads have been revealed in new research, which shows that motorists admit to eating, drinking and reaching into the footwell at speeds of up to 70mph.
The top five bad habits also include changing a CD and adjusting a sat-nav while at the wheel on the UK's busiest major roads, prompting a call by the RAC to remind drivers to take care at all times and ensure their focus is always on the road ahead.
The survey of 1,600 drivers found 57 per cent admitted to opening a bottle and having a drink while driving, 48 per cent said they change CDs, 35 per cent have eaten a sandwich, and 29 per cent are distracted by adjusting their sat-nav system. A further 15 per cent even admitted reaching for items in the glove box or footwell at the same time as driving at about 70mph.
These actions breach the Highway Code, which states: "Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as trying to read maps, inserting CD or tuning a radio, arguing with your passengers or other road users, eating and drinking."
Of the drivers who took part in the survey, the worst offenders were the 17-35 age group, where 61 per cent say they change a CD in the car and 41 per cent take their eyes off the road to adjust sat-nav systems.
According to the latest available statistics from the Department for Transport, distraction or impairment accounted for almost 14,000 accidents on British roads in 2012.
RAC technical director David Bizley said: "Motorways are the safest of our roads based on the number of accidents in relation to the amount of traffic they carry and the distance travelled, but more people are killed travelling on motorways than any other road type."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article