WATCH: CHEK News asked people on the streets of Victoria about bad driving habits after a survey revealed 1 in 7 Canadians have engaged in risque behaviour behind the wheel. April Lawrence reports.
For people who drive every day, it can seem like a simple task, and most think they’re pretty good at it.
But results from a survey conducted by Leger Research for Canadian insurance company belairdirect show most people will admit to a few bad habits behind the wheel.
Thirty-one per cent of people surveyed admitted to running a red light and three per cent to flossing behind the wheel.
But there’s one bad habit that is a little surprising ? one in seven Canadian drivers admit to getting ‘romantic’ behind the wheel.
“belairdirect is committed to encouraging all Canadians to engage in good driving habits and understands that drivers may not realize that some behaviours are putting them at risk,” said Richard Taschereau, deputy senior vice president of marketing, communications and business development with belairdirect.
In 2015, a YouTube video made waves when a woman driving on the Island Highway was shown curling her hair behind the wheel.
And that same year, a photo showed a woman eating soup while driving with her knees.
Victoria driving instructor Steve Wallace has seen it all.
“We saw a guy actually driving down the road with his knees holding a banana split,” Wallace said.
Wallace says people on our roads are more distracted than ever.
“There are all sorts of new technologies and new tasks they have to perform now and that is extremely distracting, even the GPS system and the monitoring of it,” he said.
And officials say multitasking behind the wheel puts you and everyone else on the road, at risk.
“As soon as your attention is diverted from what you should be doing is driving, there’s potential for a car accident or even taking somebody’s life,” said Const. Matt Rutherford, spokesperson for Victoria Police.
And there are also tickets for driving without due care and attention ? the fine for eating, putting on makeup, or even ‘getting romantic’ behind the wheel is $368.
April Lawrence
