It’s not just Donna Maddock* that’s guilty of a driving sin, a recent study by swiftcover.com, the UK’s first 100% online insurer, highlights how we are a nation of severely stressed out motorists.   Over 30 million of us admit to committing misdemeanours and taking unnecessary risks behind the wheel, because we are late or need to get somewhere quickly.

In detail the driving sins are:

What is more – only 14% said they had not committed any of these sins – meaning 4 out of 5 (or over 30 million of us) confess to sinning whilst driving because we are in a rush.

The report, commissioned by swiftcover.com through the Future Foundation, highlights how intolerant we are becoming in our daily lives and the affect this is having on our driving.  Gone are the days of ‘knights of the road’, leisurely Sunday driving and fun family car trips – instead we are rushing to get from A to B with little regard for our fellow motorists.  Our time stressed lives are leading to a host of dangerous, immoral, and often illegal, driving sins including changing clothes at the wheel and parking in spaces allocated for people with disabilities or those with children, by motorists who have neither!

Craig Staniland, Director of Underwriting at swiftcover.com commented: “It’s worrying when people are so stressed and harassed behind the wheel that they are putting themselves and others at risk.  British motorists are being put under more and more pressure as congestion worsens and people continue to choose the car over other forms of transport so, in the future, incidents of bad behaviour are likely to go up.”

Gender differences

The report also found differences between the sexes and how far they would go to save time when driving. Although women are less likely to drive dangerously a very high proportion of them still take unnecessary risks at the wheel.

• 10% of women admitted over taking another car in a dangerous way, whilst a staggering 25% of men have committed the same offence. 
• Men are also the worse offenders when it comes to mobile phones, 17% women have used their handheld mobiles whilst driving compared to an astounding 29% of men, despite this being made illegal from December 2003.

• Even when it comes to changing clothes at the wheel, men are worse than women with almost one in ten (7%) admitting to this dangerous act compared to less than one in twenty female drivers (3%).
• Not surprisingly, men are far more likely to exceed speed limits - 71% have exceeded the speed limit compared to 51% of women. 

Staniland concludes:  “Stress seems to be part of everyday, modern life for many but, when it occurs whilst behind the wheel, it can become positively lethal.  It is possible for motorists to reduce their stress levels. Better planning and taking a few minutes before setting off to relax, can help lessen pressure and avoid accidents caused by careless driving.”

Reduce reckless driving

To reduce stress levels, motorists should try some of the following tips, either before they set off or, if things get too much when driving, pull over for a couple of minutes.  Better to be a few minutes late than involved in, or in causing, an accident

• Before you start the engine, take a few seconds make sure you are comfortable in your seat with correctly adjusted mirrors and try this simple yoga exercise. Breathe in for the count of four; hold for the count of four; breathe out for the count of four and then breathe in again.  Repeat this once or twice more to put you in a calm relaxed frame of mind.

• Plan your journey, even if it’s only a relatively short one or a regular trip, and allow some extra time for hold ups.
• Check with one of the traffic agencies for road works or accidents along your route so that you can avoid them, change your route or defer the journey.

• Listen to relaxing music in the car but keep the volume low so that you can hear what is going on around you.
• Invest in a hands free mobile phone [kit] or, better still, make it a rule not to use a phone at all whilst driving.
• Keep the car cool; if you are feeling tired or hot and agitated, slow down, turn down the heater, open the window.
• Children can make a car journey very stressful, even a short trip.  Provide them with something to keep them occupied such as activity books, toys, crayons, electronic games etc.