Driving Offences Becoming More Acceptable?

Recent evidence suggests that almost two-fifths of young people consider driving a vehicle whilst under the influence of illegal drugs to be a more serious offence than drink-driving.

And over 1 in 10 of the age group 18-24 now believe that driving under the influence of alcohol is actually becoming more acceptable, with many stating that it is not deemed as serious as it was five years ago.

This is drastically contrasted with almost two-thirds of 45-54 year-olds who consider a DUI conviction as being much more embarrassing than it was five years ago.

This recent survey, conducted by insurers company 1^st Central, asked 2,000 drivers about their opinions on driving offences, in order to re-evaluate their insurance strategies based upon risk views related to social views of acceptability in terms of driving offences.

1^st Central’s chief underwriting officer had this to say on the issue: “Public attitude to driving convictions influences behaviour and can even act as a deterrent if a conviction is seen as a significant social stigma. We are interested in public attitude as this can be translated into generic risk indicators and helps to inform our on-going thinking related to different underwriting principles.”

The survey has also revealed that a vast minority (6%) consider using a mobile phone whilst driving as socially unacceptable – despite significant advertising campaigns by the Government.

It was also shown that the most acceptable form of driving-related felony is a speeding conviction – and don’t let men blame women for poor driving anymore, as it was based upon the views of both genders that this result was achieved. It was also proven that 1 in 10 of those surveyed had a driving conviction, and almost DOUBLE of this amount were male compared to their female counterparts (13% Male / 7% Female), with 15% convicted of drink driving being male, as only 9% were female.

Those most likely to commit driving offences were in the age range 25-34, with 11% admitting to a conviction, and 17% admitting to drink driving, compared to only 7% of drivers older than this admitting to a conviction, with 80% of 45-54 year-olds being convicted for speeding.

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