1 in 5 male drivers under 25 admit to having raced another driver. The results of a survey were presented last month at the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) Annual Road Safety Lecture, revealing that 1 in 5 male drivers aged under 25, reported that they had raced another driver on a public road at some point in the past.

The survey, conducted by Dr Kiran Sarma, chartered psychologist and lecturer in psychology at NUI Galway, also revealed that young male drivers reported more frequent speeding, reckless driving and use of mobile phones while driving.

Mr Noel Brett, Chief Executive, RSA said: “… young drivers aged 17 to 24 years old who are among the highest risk road-users on our roads. Research tells us that this group of road-users are three times more likely to be killed on the roads than any other road-user. In fact, 5,678 young road-users with their lives ahead of them were killed or seriously injured on Irish roads in the period 1997 to 2009. This is roughly the same as the population of Westport in Co. Mayo. When you think of it in those terms, we are reminded of how needless this loss of life is.”

Dr Sarma’s research revealed that risky driving behaviour was linked with pro-speeding attitudes among friends and family, a greater tendency to become angry in response to other drivers’ actions and a belief that the driver could control his or her car, even in challenging driving conditions. Some young male drivers also saw their car as being a core part of who they are – this was related to more extreme driving behaviour.

1,352 17-24 year olds were killed on Irish roads between 1997 and 2009, representing 28% of all road deaths in that period. Over one third (35%) of these fatalities took place between 12:00am (midnight) and 4:59am. The research also found that 17 to 24 year old car drivers are five times more likely to be killed on Irish roads than any other driver. In fatal collisions where excessive speed was cited as a contributory factor, half of all drivers responsible were males aged 17 to 24 years old. Furthermore, 2 in 5 of all passengers aged 17 to 24 who were killed on the road, were in a car being driven by a 17 to 24 year old male driver.

To date this year (10th October), 145 people have lost their lives on Irish roads, a reduction of 15 on the same period last year. Of these, almost one third of road-users killed (31%) were aged between 16 and 25 years old. Almost half (44.1%) were drivers and 1 in 5 (31 deaths) were pedestrians. However, road fatality statistics to date suggest that, this year, road deaths could fall below 200 for the first time since records began.