One in six Brits admit they’re terrible drivers

A new study from Isuzu UK has uncovered the truth about Britain’s drivers - and it's not exactly pleasant. Nearly one in six motorists (15 per cent) have confessed to being bad drivers, while a hair-raising 4 per cent of road warriors admit they are downright dangerous behind the wheel.

According to the survey, the roads of Cardiff may require a bit more caution: a whopping 35 per cent of drivers there admit they’re, well, pretty awful at driving. Not to be outdone, Londoners (33 per cent) and Liverpudlians (31 per cent) aren’t far behind, each proving that city life might not be doing their driving skills any favours.

Meanwhile, the quiet streets of Stoke-on-Trent seem to be inhabited by driving deities. Not a single driver there considers themselves a menace on the road. It’s either a utopia of highway heroes or a delusional collective, but they’re sticking to their story. Close behind in the “I’m a great driver” category are Nottingham (2 per cent), Cambridge (3 per cent), and Edinburgh (4 per cent), where humility isn’t as prevalent, but safety, apparently, is.

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So, why are so many of us struggling with basic driving? It turns out, we're not pointing fingers at ourselves. The most popular excuses include too many cars on the road (36 per cent) and parking spaces that seem to shrink by the minute (24 per cent). Also, apparently, roads are too narrow (17 per cent), and some of us (20 per cent) are just a little too easily distracted by the shiny things in life.

Speaking of distraction, a separate survey from last month revealed that 31 per cent of young drivers have a side hustle as amateur filmmakers — snapping pics or recording videos while driving. And where does this content end up? On social media, of course. Because, clearly, nothing says "safe driving" like documenting your 70 mph commute for Instagram.

Van drivers aren’t off the hook either. A Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles survey found that 57 per cent of these road warriors are still glued to their phones, despite tougher laws and eye-watering fines. So, next time you see a van swerving ever-so-slightly, just know there’s probably a sneaky glance at a mobile happening.

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