MORE THAN 15 per cent of Irish motorists are “not sure” they would pass the driving test if they had to do it today, according to an Automobile Association (AA) poll.
Of a total of 10,700 drivers questioned, 53.7 per cent said they would “probably pass” and 26.8 said they would “definitely pass”.
Some 3.9 per cent admitted they would “probably fail”, while 15.1 per cent were “not sure” what the result would be.
The AA’s director of policy Conor Faughnan described the responses as “honest answers”.
He said: “Plenty of people have been driving for 30 years and more, and you tend to learn bad habits over the years, but you are far better off being a driver who will admit making mistakes.”
Over 28 per cent of drivers said they had stopped on the hard shoulder of a motorway.
When asked the reason for the last time they did so, over 23 per cent said it was to make or receive a call.
The poll also asked motorists if they ever used a hand-held mobile phone while driving: over 14 per cent said they did so “occasionally” and 3.5 per cent said “regularly”.
Meanwhile, over 10 per cent admitted to “occasionally” sending texts while driving and 2.4 per cent said they did this “regularly”.
Over 60 per cent said they would “agree completely” that drivers based in the Republic should incur penalty points for driving offences committed in the North.
Mr Faughnan said 83 per cent believed drunk drivers should have their cars confiscated, while over half of motorists would call gardaí if someone they knew was about to drink and drive.
“The days when drink driving was tolerated with a nod and a wink are long since behind us. Nowadays, people have little sympathy or respect for the culprits,” he said.
“We often accuse ourselves of being a nation of bad drivers, but we are improving. Road deaths are down about 15 per cent so far this year.”
The poll results were obtained from the AA Motorists Panel.
