October 14, 2009

Boy Racers have pipped ignorant drivers to the top spot of most disliked drivers with 42%, over 41% for people who don’t say thanks when you let them out, in a survey conducted by the AA for the Autocar AA Drive Better campaign. 

The poll of 14,743 drivers listed a top ten of irritations felt by UK motorists, from their motoring peers. 

The Autocar AA “Drive Better” campaign concludes that some good old fashioned manners would help bring back the smile to drivers’ faces and reduce the likelihood of road rage incidents.

Edmund King, AA president comments: “ Many drivers do thank others who let them out but 37% of male drivers and 46% of female drivers still find those who don’t a major irritation. Lorry drivers tend to flash their hazard lights and others raise their hand to acknowledge the good manners of other drivers. It does not take much to let someone into the queue of traffic or to acknowledge them. We all need to live in harmony on the roads so better manners would help.”

Autocar editor Chas Hallett added “Personal transport is hugely important to all of us but we need to make our roads better and safer places to be. Being nicer to other drivers and acknowledging their existence calms everyone down, and that’s got to be good for everyone. And a friendly raise of the hand and a smile uses much less energy than an angry, heated exchange”.

The top ten types of driver that other drivers most dislike were:

1.Boy racers   42%
2.Drivers who don’t say thanks   41%
3.Drivers who show off       33%
4.Those who listen to loud music, windows open   23%
5.White van man  21%
6.Sunday drivers   20%
7.School run mums   16% (19% males,12% females)
8.Taxi/Mini cab drivers 14%
9.Foreign lorry drivers 12%
10.Drivers with caravans 9%

Other driving irritants did highlight a lack of tolerance when behind the wheel with drivers with signs in the car with slogans such as baby on board annoying five per cent, and 3% protesting against vain drivers who look at themselves in the mirror.  Perhaps these people should pay more attention to the road and less on the person in front listening to ‘your so vain’!

There were discrepancies between how people felt about different coloured vans with white van man seeing other drivers ire, while postman pat annoyed virtually nobody nationwide in his red van.

Regionally, Sunday Drivers are more disliked in Wales and Northern Ireland than any other region, residents of the Northern Ireland dislike taxi drivers more than the rest of the country and drivers at the wheel of a white van are more likely to cause irritation in the South.

Wales had the highest percentage disliking boy racers (48%), followed closely by Northern Ireland (45%). The South West and the East Midlands had a higher percentage of those who dislike drivers who don’t say thank you (44%). And in Scotland 8% disliked tractor drivers, which is understandable for anyone that has ever been stuck behind one!

The conclusion of this survey seems to be that a good manners costs nothing and can make a real difference to somebody’s day, so next time you’re let through a gap why not acknowledge the gesture -  it really can make a difference.

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