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Brake and Direct Line are urging drivers to hang back, slow down and chill out on country roads
An alarming one in seven drivers (14%) report that in the past year they have been forced by another driver’s overtaking to swerve, pull over or brake to avoid a collision.
When it comes to owning up to risky overtaking, it was most common among male and young drivers, with 21% of men and two in five (39%) 17-24 year olds admitting doing so when they weren’t sure the road ahead was clear.
The figures for speeding paint a similar picture, with almost half of male drivers (44%) and more than half of young drivers (17-24; 56%) doing over 60mph on single carriageway country roads, compared with less than a third (31%) of women and two in five drivers (37%) overall.
Brake and Direct Line’s survey also found that, in the past year:
- Four in five drivers (80%) have felt endangered by an overtaking manoeuvre, either of their own, their driver, or another vehicle.
- Almost all drivers (94%) have witnessed a risky overtaking manoeuvre, and more than half (53%) see them monthly or more often.
- One in five drivers (18%) admit they have themselves overtaken another vehicle when they were not certain if there were any hidden vehicles or hazards they could have hit during the manoeuvre.
In another recent Brake and Direct Line survey, risky overtaking came fourth on a list of UK drivers’ road safety concerns, cited by two thirds (66%) of respondents.
Overtaking is a particular problem on single carriageway country roads, where high speeds and blind bends often make it impossible to be sure the road ahead is clear, creating a risk of devastating head-on collisions.
Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said: “Overtaking on single carriageway country roads is a huge risk, and one that ultimately just isn’t worth it. Why risk it and rush? You could cause a devastating, high speed, head on crash that ends lives and ruins others.”
