Tailgating, throwing litter out of cars and sending text messages are the top motorist gripes in the annual RACQ What Drives You Crazy? survey.
Since rear-enders are the biggest cause of motorcycle accidents, it comes as no surprise to riders that tailgaters are enemy number one.
RACQ Senior Road Safety Advisor Joel Tucker said tailgating returned to prime spot, after topping the survey two years ago and coming second last year.
He called for “an increased on-road police presence” targeting annoying offences such as distracted drivers.
RACQ spokesman Steve Spalding says they are concerned that driver distractions can result in serious or fatal crashes that put at risk all road users, “particularly vulnerable ones such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists”.
Steve SpaldingWhile lane-splitting by riders has been in the news of late, it again rates the second lowest concern among motorists, although it still ires 81.72% motorists, down from 85.11% last year.
“One of the main reasons we ask about this behaviour is because the issue of lane splitting and how it fits with the road rules has been a topic of discussion for a few years now and we like to monitor members’ views towards it,” he says.
“We didn’t ask people to identify concerns as motorcycle riders etc. It is just as a motorist. Many RACQ members ride motorcycles as well as drive cars, but we didn’t explore that in this survey.”
Top 10 behaviours that drive motorists crazy
- Tailgating (2nd 2012, 1st 2011)
- Littering (4th ’12, 3rd ’11)
- Testing (8th ’12, 4th ’11)
- Increasing speed when being overtaken (1st ’12, 2nd ’11)
- Not allowing others to merge (7th ’12, 7th ’11)
- Incorrect use of indicators (4th ’12, 5th ’11)
- Aggression (10th ’12, 11th ’11)
- Ignoring speed zones at schools/roadworks (9th ’12, 11th ’11)
- Motorists who don’t move over to allow overtaking (8th ’12, 8th ’11)
- Turning from wrong lane on roundabouts (5th ’12, 10th ’11)
(Source: RACQ)