Admiral reveals drivers' attitudes towards passengers

New research from Admiral has revealed Britain's motorists are being driven to distraction by their passengers with almost four out of ten (39%) drivers admitting they find other people in their car diverts their attention from the road.

For many motorists having a passenger has also proved to be a real problem. The survey of 2,000 motorists by Admiral showed as many as one in six (17%) drivers have crashed or had a near miss due to the actions of a passenger.

According to those polled, the top two most distracting types of passenger activity are backseat driving and children making noise (both 37%), however many drivers (30%) also find general chatter with passengers off-putting when they're driving.

For some unlucky drivers, opinionated adults and noisy kids aren't the only types of irritating passenger. Some of more unusual reasons why passengers had caused them to crash include:

1. A wasp entered the car, my girlfriend flipped out and caused a big scene and I crashed into the kerb

2. I got drowsy because my passenger insisted on having the heater turned up full

3. My ex-wife slapped me in the face whilst I was driving at speed on the M5

4. My mate poked me in the eye whilst I was driving on a roundabout. I could not see a thing and had
to stop

5. Passenger pulled up the handbrake

Admiral's managing director, Sue Longthorn said: "Whilst these are extreme examples of accidents caused by passengers they do highlight how easy it is to be sidetracked by the people in your vehicle, whether they're noisy children or adults who think they know how you should be driving.

"Motorists are carrying passengers in three out of ten of the accidents reported to us and the most common type of accident for a motorist with passengers is where another vehicle has hit our customer's open door. I'm sure many of us have been guilty at some point of not always paying attention when exiting our car and it seems this type of accident probably has something to do with talking to passengers instead of checking for traffic."

Admiral, the car insurance specialists has further revealed that according to their research almost four out of ten (38%) motorists alter the way they drive when carrying passengers – but not always for the better. While almost three out of ten (29%) said they drive more slowly and carefully with passengers, almost one in ten (9%) admitted it made them drive faster and less carefully.

Four out of ten (40%) motorists said they prefer driving without any passengers and almost a quarter (23%) said they are more nervous driving with passengers than on their own.

There's a marked difference between the sexes too and driving with other people is certainly more of a concern for women than it is for men. More women than men prefer driving without passengers and twice as many women as men admit to being nervous with passengers in the car with them.

Despite more women admitting to finding passengers distracting, the research from Admiral showed almost twice as many male motorists than female motorists admit to having a crash which was caused by a passenger distracting them.

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About Admiral:
Admiral, (a trading name of EUI Ltd) launched in 1993, is part of Admiral Group plc. It was set up to target those motorists who traditionally pay higher than average premiums, including under-35s, those living in cities or driving hot hatches. It now offers its unique Admiral MultiCar policy for households with two or more cars.

Admiral writes its motor insurance business to a consortium of insurers, these being:
- Admiral Insurance Company Ltd
- Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited
- Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) plc

PR Contact:
Natalie Grimshare
Admiral
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Greyfriars Road
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CF10 3AZ
029 2043 4333
www.admiral.com