REVEALED: How many penalty points did motorists in Offaly clock up

OFFALY motorists clocked up 3,600+ penalty point notices in 2021 according to the latest figures released from the CSO ( Central Statistics Office) Male drivers received 60% more points than women, 2,235 and 1,402 respectively.

In the same year, 76 notices were issued to Offaly drivers of passenger vehicles for failure to wear their seat belt, with men much more likely than women to get penalty points for this offence.

Meanwhile a survey carried out by an insurance company revealed that dangerous overtaking is the most disliked driving habit among people in Ireland.

Nearly three in ten respondents (27%) cited this behaviour as the most inconsiderate action behind the wheel, closely followed by failure to use indicators, which almost one in four (24%) reported as their most disliked driving behaviour. Driving too fast is the third most annoying driving habit. The survey also found that an overwhelming majority of respondents (98%) always wear their seatbelts while driving.

The research found that Ireland’s top five most disliked driving habits are:

1. Dangerous overtaking

2. Not using an indicator

3. Driving too fast

4. Driving too slow

5. Not letting other drivers out.

Commenting on the survey findings, Paul Walsh, CEO of Peopl Insurance said: “Dangerous overtaking and driving too fast are two of the most vexing driving habits in Ireland according to our survey. If you've ever driven on Ireland's regional and local roads, you've likely witnessed how quickly an accident could occur due to impatient drivers attempting to overtake other motorists on narrow roads with limited visibility. With this in mind, it is worrying that the latest CSO figures show that speeding accounts for three-quarters of penalty point notices issued in Ireland and men appear to be the biggest culprits.”

Mr Walsh added: “Interestingly, about one in seven people we asked (13pc) said not wearing a seatbelt is the bad driving habit that irritates them most and I think people might actually be surprised to learn that 76 motorists in Offaly in 2021 were issued with penalty point notices for exactly this. Again, men appear to be far more likely to break the rules – receiving 66 of the 76 penalty point endorsement notices.”

“Overall, the results of our survey suggest that women are more likely to experience anxiety towards driving habits that have the potential to endanger lives, such as driving too fast, while men are more annoyed by discourteous driving behaviours, such as not letting people out.”

Highlights from the Peopl Insurance Annoying Driving Habits Survey include:

Older respondents appear to be more sensitive to dangerous overtaking on the road – 32pc of those aged 55+ cited this as the most annoying driving habit compared to just 9pc of those aged between 25 and 34.

Twice as many people in the 25 to 34 age group (23pc) as in the group aged 35 to 44 (11pc) were annoyed by motorists who drive slowly.

Men are much less tolerant of drivers who don’t move off when the light turns green than women are, with 6pc of men irked by this compared to 1pc of women.

Men are also more likely than women to be aggravated by drivers who don’t let other motorists out, with 10pc of men identifying this as the most annoying driving trait compared to only 6pc of women.

The youngest (aged 18 to 24) and oldest (age 55 plus) age groups are the most compliant with the rule to belt up, with these age categories saying they wore their seatbelt ‘100pc of the time’. By contrast, those aged between 35 and 44 are the most likely to slip up on the seatbelt rule as a higher proportion of this category said they wore their seatbelt ‘most of the time’.