Frankfurt – Unfortunately, road accidents in Germany still occur far too often because drivers are distracted. An insurance company has now examined how distracted road users really are – divided into urban and rural populations. Result: City dwellers are much more reckless behind the wheel…
The long-term study of the Insurance “DA Direkt” shows significant mentality differences between the 15 largest cities and the drivers in the countryside. When it comes to almost all distracting secondary activities in the car, drivers from cities with over 500,000 inhabitants clearly stand out.
The long-term study shows significant differences in mentality between the 15 largest cities and drivers in the countryside
Personal care and online meeting behind the wheel
► Almost two out of ten city dwellers often eat or drink while driving, twice as many as in the rest of the city Deutschland.
Warning signs on the side of the road point out the danger of using cell phones while driving
► Personal caresuch as putting on make-up or shaving at traffic lights, is done by ten percent of city dwellers – compared to only four percent of the rest of the population.
► In professional online meetings it is eight to three and at Making calls with the cell phone while driving 17 to eleven percent.
► Also at the SmartphoneThe largest cities stand out clearly in terms of usage: a third of drivers use their smartphones on (almost) every trip. In the rest of the country, the proportion of cell phone use is 18 percent.
► When listening to frequently Radiopodcasts or audio books the ratio is 40 to 36 percent.
Overall, 60 percent of drivers in large cities have a high level of distraction. This means that they frequently perform at least one activity that is classified as distracting while behind the wheel.
Cyclists distract drivers
45 percent of city dwellers feel distracted by cyclists in traffic
According to the, the hit list of distractions outside of your own vehicle is Study led by cyclists in the largest cities, which 45 percent of drivers find highly distracting.
In the other places after the bicycles This is followed by jostling (other) drivers (43%), unclear traffic routing (40%), the often complained forest of signs (33%) and chaotically parked e-scooters or electric kick scooters (30%).
Accident frequency in cities above average
The accident frequency is also higher in the largest cities above average. While 18 percent of drivers there have been involved in a traffic accident in the last three years, the average for the rest of the population is only twelve percent.
All respondents agreed on the causes: distracted driving and excessive speed are the biggest preventable causes of accidents Traffic.