What's the news?
So, it's Valentine's Day, a time to share the love, to reach out to your fellow humans... and to rage about the shambolic state of driving in our country, courtesy of fellow road users. Apparently.
A 'Sharing the Road' survey conducted by Continental Tyres questioned 1,050 respondents across Ireland about other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians out on the roads. Respondents included all groups, including van, bus and HGV drivers - as well as motorists.
And it seems, like any, um, 'good' relationship, that a communication breakdown is what annoys us most. Fully 75 per cent of car drivers, 60 per cent of truck drivers and 64 per cent of pedestrians said their single biggest bugbear was failure to signal intentions while behind the wheel - and no, we don't mean in a romantic sense, we mean in a 'stick your feckin' indicators on, please' kind of way.
Communication of another kind ranked number two on the hitlist, with mobile phone usage behind the wheel guaranteed to wind up your fellow road users. In total, 65 per cent of car drivers, 50 per cent of truck drivers and 61 per cent of pedestrians said they hated this habit in other road users. Stick to using it hands-free, at the absolute most.
Further findings showed a little consideration goes a long way (can you see the Valentine's link here?). One in four truck drivers thought car drivers were the most considerate other road-user, but 63 per cent thought their fellow HGV drivers were the most thoughtful. Similarly, car drivers ranked other car drivers the most considerate, with 45 per cent of those surveyed providing such a response.
A total of 38 per cent of the pedestrians surveyed thought truck or bus drivers were the most considerate to their needs, while 29 per cent voted for car drivers and only 8.5 per cent said cyclists. And bus drivers are considered the safest road users of all, thanks to the views of motorists, truck drivers and pedestrians.
Anything else?
And now the survey sponsor bit:
Tom Dennigan, Continental Tyres Ireland, said: "Many of our respondents admitted that they are 'multi-users' of the road with many often either cycling, driving a vehicle or using the roads as a pedestrian. That familiarity with the challenges of other road users surely encourages empathy.
"Just as in any relationship and particularly so at St. Valentine's, empathy is important. That is one of the strong positives that I take from the results of our survey. The level of empathy that is engendered when road users experience the road in more than one guise: e.g. as a pedestrian, cyclist and perhaps a van, truck or car driver; that makes them more considerate road partners.
"It's incredibly positive that, despite the everyday annoyances that people experience, there is a desire to understand how others use the road. As identified in the survey, better training and education is being called for by road users and this is something we are addressing in our Vision Zero strategy to eliminate collisions and fatalities.
"At Continental we develop technology which has the safety of all road users in mind. Whether that is tyres across all vehicles, from bicycles to HGVs, or intelligent braking technology such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB). We even work with Adidas to provide extra grip on their running shoes. So we really are with road users every step of the way."