Charlie Smith
DESPITE their poor reputation, Spanish drivers are not the worst on the road.
That is according to the annual survey by the Spanish Royal Automobile Club (RACE).
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The study of 15 EU countries focuses on driving under the influence and falling asleep at the wheel.
A total of 3,368 18-75-year-olds were quizzed from Spain, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, France, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the UK.
Spain has dropped to eighth for fatalities and now has 39 deaths for every million people – the European average is 51.
After Sweden (25) the UK has the second lowest road death rate of 27 per million people, while the worst is Romania (99).
Around 91% of Spaniards say they drive regularly, while the European average is 90.1% and the highest is Italy (97%).
The number of Spaniards using their own car, as opposed to other transport is 72.8%.
Once on the road, two hours and seven minutes is the average time it takes a Spanish driver to take a break.
That puts Spain fourth, while the Portuguese are the most frequent stoppers at just an hour and 45 minutes.
Shockingly, 5.2% of Europeans admit almost falling asleep on long journeys, while the figure for Spain is 2.3%.
Meanwhile, 27% of those polled admitted they would not stop at all for journeys of four hours or less.
Accidents due to driver fatigue are highest in Finland (24.7%), while Portugal has the lowest with 4.9% and Spain is 11th with 10.8%.
The study revealed that 43.5% of Europeans have driven after drinking, with 22% always or almost always doing so.
Around 14.4% of Spaniards always or almost always drive after drinking, while it is 27.5% in the UK and 32.9% in France.
I agree there are alot of very good drivers in Spain,
My question is “Why are 95% of cars in my village dented?”
Including mine while it was parked over a weekend.