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SA drivers’ most annoying habits revealed

A survey of more than 5000 RAA members has revealed tailgating as the most annoying habit of South Australian drivers.

Sep 23, 2022, updated Sep 23, 2022
Photo: Tony Lewis / InDaily

Photo: Tony Lewis / InDaily

Twenty-seven per cent of the 5584 motorists polled nominated it as the worst offence on SA roads.

RAA Senior Manager of Safety and Infrastructure Charles Mountain said the bad behaviour of drivers was a hot topic among motorists.

“There are many rule-breaking behaviours that people find annoying, and not surprisingly our poll shows tailgating is high among them,’’ he said.

Failing to keep left unless overtaking and failing to indicate also ranked highly.

“Indicating is a simple driving task and an important one for safety’s sake but failing to do so draws the ire of many motorists. It’s important to indicate for long enough so that traffic in the adjacent lane knows what you intend to do.”

Mountain said these traffic offences can also lead to situations in which other drivers can become enraged and end up making their own poor decisions as well.

“We obviously need to do more work in helping drivers understand all the road rules and how they work,” he warned.

“These bad driving habits could also create a serious safety risk, they can also result in a costly fine and loss of demerit points.”

Latest figures show more than 5000 motorists have been pulled over by police for tailgating – resulting in $1.32 million worth of fines during the past two financial years.

In the same period police figures show 1347 drivers were caught failing to keep left unless overtaking, resulting in 995 cautions and 352 fines worth $124,385.

The top 10 most annoying habits on the road reported to the RAA were:

  1. Tailgating (27%).
  2. Failing to keep left unless overtaking (17%),
  3. Failing to indicate (14%),
  4. Speeding up in overtaking lanes zones when not overtaking (12%),
  5. Failing to merge properly (9%),
  6. Using a mobile phone (7%),
  7. Leaving too much space between vehicles at intersections (4%),
  8. Failing to turn off high beam lights (4%)
  9. Queuing across intersections (3%)
  10. Failing to use slow vehicle turn out lanes (3%).

Drivers can still have their say on the poll.

 

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