Statistical press release – Publication of Road Safety issues in Northern Ireland 2018/19

The Road Safety Issues in Northern Ireland 2018/2019 report is now available.

This report, produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), presents findings from the 2018/2019 Continuous Household Survey (CHS).

The publication is available on the ASRB website at:

• Road safety research

Key Points

• The majority of respondents (53%) thought that a 20mph speed limit should be more widely used.
• Approximately four fifths (82%) of respondents thought a 20mph speed limit should be applied outside schools and three quarters (76%) thought it should be applied to an area where children play.
• Half of all drivers (50%) reported they never normally exceed the speed limit; however, 42% of drivers stated they exceed the speed limit on motorways, this was followed by 23% on dual carriageways, 8% on rural roads and 4% for roads in ‘built-up’ urban areas.
• More than half of all drivers (52%) reported that they used their phone in some capacity while driving. Approximately one in eight drivers admitted to texting and almost one in twelve admitted to making a hand held call while driving.
• The top 3 risks stated by respondents of using a mobile phone while driving were being more likely to cause a crash (92%), being more likely to be involved in a crash (84%) and being less likely to notice a danger ahead (82%).
• Less than half (46%) of respondents believe that drivers were likely to be stopped by police for using their mobile phone while driving.  Two thirds (66%) of respondents correctly identified that the police penalty for being caught was a fine plus penalty points although more than half of those surveyed (55%) believed that this penalty should be increased.

Notes to editors: 

Background

1. The information presented in this publication derives from the 2018/2019 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to the attitudes, awareness and behaviours of respondents to specific road safety issues. The topics included 20mph speed limits, speeding and mobile phone usage. The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the population at household level.
2. The 2018/19 CHS was based on a random sample of 9,000 domestic addresses provided by Land and Property Services and interviews were sought with all adults aged 16 and over in these households with the final dataset containing the records for 2,948 adults. These people were asked questions relating to 20 mph speed limits, speeding and mobile phone usage, and 2,932 adults provided a response to the questions.
3. The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and its Road Safety Partners are committed to promoting improved road safety, and to deliver better regulation of the transport sector. ASRB undertakes an annual programme of research and statistical investigations into road safety problems in Northern Ireland, developed and implemented in collaboration with Road Safety policy side. The results from this report form part of that research programme.
    

Official Statistics

4. This is an Official Statistics publication and therefore follows the Code of Practice for Statistics.  You can find further information about the Code of Practice at: Statistics Authority.

Further Information

For further information please contact:

• Tel:  Press Enquiries - 028 9054 0007
• Tel : Public Enquiries – 028 9054 0029 (Text relay prefix 18001)
• E-mail: ASRB@nisra.gov.uk
• Website: Statistics and research

5. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office on 028 9054 0007 or email: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk. Out of hours please contact the duty press officer on 028 9037 8110.

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