A recent survey has found that around a quarter of male drivers risk catastrophic head-on crashes by overtaking blind, while more than four in ten (44%) admit speeding at 60mph+ on rural roads. Men are much more likely to take these deadly risks than women, and more than twice as likely to have been involved in an overtaking near-miss or incident.
The Brake and Direct Line survey of 1,000 UK drivers found:
- Almost one in four men (24%) and one in six women (18%) admitted overtaking when they couldn’t be certain nothing was coming, in the past year.
- One in five men (20%) and one in ten women (9%) have been involved in an overtaking near-miss or incident while driving in the past year.
- More than half of all drivers (54%) have witnessed an overtaking near-miss or incident by another driver in the past year, with one in five (19%) experiencing a vehicle approaching on their side of the road.
- Over half of women (52%) have been afraid when travelling as a passenger when their driver has overtaken another vehicle in the past year, compared to 44% of men.
- More than four in ten men (44%) have broken a 60mph limit on a rural road compared to one in four women (24%), and men are twice as likely to do this monthly or more (20% compared to 9%).
- In 2011 (latest statistics available), six in ten UK road deaths were on rural roads; that’s 1,197 people violently and tragically losing their lives.
- Four in ten serious injuries were on rural roads, meaning 9,952 people suffered serious and often long-lasting or permanent harm. Three in four people (75%) killed on UK roads are male.
