Road Safety Issues Report Published

The Department for Infrastructure has published the latest report of Road Safety Issues in Northern Ireland.

The report has been produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), and presents findings from the 2016/2017 Continuous Household Survey (CHS). This is the first year questions set on road safety issues were included in the CHS.

The report, which surveyed more than 3,200, found that the majority of respondents (65%) said they would not travel as a passenger in a car where the driver has had one alcoholic drink; 35% stated they would.

Other key findings include:

• Just over one-quarter (27%) of respondents thought it was acceptable to drive after one alcoholic drink; while under one-fifth (19%) said they normally drive after one alcoholic drink.

• Just over one-fifth (21%) of drivers said they would normally drive the morning after they had been drinking four (for women) or five (for men) or more alcoholic drinks.

• Nine in ten respondents thought that police should have the power to seize a vehicle if a driver was driving under the influence of drink (91%) or drugs (90%).

• Over three-quarters (78%) of respondents thought a 20mph speed limit should be applied outside schools and 71% thought it should be applied to an area where children play. Half of respondents thought a 20mph speed limit should be more widely used.

• Approximately half of drivers (49%) reported they never normally exceed the speed limit; however, 44% of drivers stated they exceed the speed limit on motorways, this was followed by dual carriageways (29%) and reduced to 3% for roads in 'built-up' areas.

(MH/CM)