The county with the worst drivers in Ireland

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The County with the worst drivers in Ireland has been revealed in a new survey of 7,000 people by the AA in Ireland.

Almost half of the people surveyed ranked Dubliners as the worst drivers in Ireland. Dubliners the worst drivers?

Coming in second place as the worst drivers in Ireland was Donegal with 19.25 per cent of people naming them Ireland's dodgiest drivers and in third place, Cork with 5.34pc saying they were the worst drivers.



Conor Faughnan who is the Automobile Association's’ Consumer Affairs Director said:
"While this was perhaps a less serious question than others we regularly ask motorists, it is an opportunity to highlight the increasingly common issue on Irish roads of rudeness and poor driver behaviour.

"Every day we come across cases of dangerous overtaking, drivers failing to acknowledge the right of way and motorists ignoring the many rules of the road.

"Because we do it so often, we tend to under appreciate how dangerous driving is.

"These kinds of behaviour not only put the offending motorist at greater risk of being involved in an incident, but can also increase the risk to other drivers and vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians."



The survey indicates that rural drivers are better, just 0.26pc of those surveyed said people from Sligo and Leitrim were the worst behind the wheel.

Motorists in Sligo and Leitrim were voted as the safest, in the survey carried out by over 7000 people.

The Top 5 are as follows:
    • Dublin - 46.77%
    • Donegal - 19.25%
    • Cork - 5.34%
    • Kerry - 2.63%
    • Kildare - 2.16%
It can be said, that rural drivers just don’t meet the same traffic situations and a number of cyclists and pedestrians on a daily basis as do urban drivers, so it’s easy to say they are the better drivers, as rural drivers are not experiencing the elevated urban situations that City dwellers experience constantly.  

Over 20pc of people surveyed described themselves as occasional cyclists, so this may show the data is skewed towards a cyclists bias where one-fifth of those surveyed were cyclists of which almost one-quarter were involved in a fall or collision because of a motorist's actions.

More likely the findings come from the fact that Dublin has a far higher population of drivers and cyclists negotiating for road space on a daily basis and it’s these elements that are focused in the survey.

Last year 187 people lost their lives on Irish roads and so far this year the figure stands at 45 people.

Author

Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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