New research has revealed that the majority of Britons who hold a full driving licence don’t believe that they would pass their driving test if they were asked to re-take it tomorrow.

According to the poll, almost all admit to picking up bad habits which would mark them down, including driving one-handed, using gadgets without pulling over and eating and drinking behind the wheel. 

The team at Voucher Codes Pro conducted the research as part of an ongoing study into British attitudes and experiences. Overall, they quizzed 2,481 Britons aged 18 and over, all of whom stated that they have a full-driving licence and have been driving for a minimum of 12 months.

Initially, all respondents were asked whether they thought they would pass their driving test again if they were to take it tomorrow. Three-quarters (74%) said they didn’t think that they would pass.

When these respondents were asked why they believed they would fail, almost all respondents (92%) admitted that they’ve picked up bad habits since passing their driving test.

Wanting to delve a little deeper, all respondents were asked what bad habits they had picked up whilst driving. When provided with a list of possible responses and told to select all that applied, the top five most commonly adopted bad driving habits were revealed as follows:

  • Driving with one hand on the steering wheel - 66%
  • Using gadgets whilst driving (i.e. mobile phone, sat nav etc.) - 59%
  • Eating and drinking whilst driving - 55%
  • Running amber/red traffic lights - 52%
  • Lack of observation - 50%

Further to these, 48% stated that they speed without realising it, while 10% stated that they felt they would fail due to general dangerous driving.

All respondents who stated that they eat and drink behind the wheel were asked when they were most likely to chomp on whilst driving, to which takeaways (28%), snacks, crisps and sweets (25%) and sandwiches (21%) were revealed as the food options of choice. Although, one in twenty (5%) stated that they liked to eat ‘full hot meals’ behind the wheel.

Similarly, when asked what types of drinks they preferred to drink, cans of fizzy pop (41%) and energy drinks such as coffee and red bull (24%) were the most popular.

George Charles, from Voucher Codes Pro, said: “It’s common sense to pull over when tired, so it should also be common sense to pull over to eat where it’s safe to do so. Trying to do this whilst driving can diminish your concentration on the road, and it only takes a split second for something to go wrong.”