New research reveals which Europeans drive dangerously while expecting others to follow the rules. From driving under the influence, to speeding, using a phone, and failing to buckle up, a considerable number of drivers across the continent hypocritically admit to engaging in some seriously bad behaviour on a regular basis.

The analysis, conducted by Motointegrator and the research experts at DataPulse Research, coincides with the United Nations’ Global Forum for Road Safety, which begins on 23 September in Geneva.

To find the worst offenders, the analytics team extracted survey data from 22 country-level reports published by the Brussels-based Vias Institute. The surveys, which were conducted in 2023 and made public in 2024, ask people about how tolerant they are of seven bad driving behaviours, and also ask drivers whether they commit those acts themselves. The analytics team calculated a “hypocrisy score” for each country, accounting for the share of people who find the behaviours unacceptable, the share of drivers who admit to doing them, and how dangerous each behaviour is.

The topline results show that Bosnia and Herzegovina has the most hypocritical drivers, followed by Greece, Luxembourg and Finland. The least hypocritical drivers are in the UK, as well as Germany and Poland.

The following report takes a close look at each behaviour at both the continent level and country level. Here is where the rubber meets the road.

Double standards across the continent

Europeans know how to drive safely — and they expect their fellow motorists to be model road users. However, many drivers choose to not follow the rules themselves, the study’s findings show. This is concerning given that road fatalities are ticking back up after plummeting in 2020 due to pandemic lockdowns.

To find out how hypocritical drivers really are, the research team compared the average European’s tolerance for bad behaviour with their propensity to do it. The results, illustrated in the following chart, show this “hypocrisy gap” across seven dangerous driving habits. For instance, the gap for driving after taking drugs is small: about 3% find it acceptable, while around 7% admitted to doing it in the last 30 days. A wider gap exists for phone use, with 3% finding it acceptable to read a phone while driving, but 23% admitting to doing so recently. Drivers show the most hypocrisy when it comes to speeding; it is the most accepted behaviour (13%), yet also the most common, with half of all drivers admitting to it.

“Because the survey data is self-reported, it offers a unique opportunity to compare people’s attitudes with their actions,” says Anna Ganska, Motointegrator’s CEO. “What we found is that people are quick to decry bad judgement behind the wheel, but don’t always exercise sound judgement themselves.”

The research team also scored each country, giving greater significance to the most dangerous behaviours. This ensured that drugs and alcohol, which increase crash risk, hold more weight than seatbelt disuse, for example. (See methodology for details.)

The most hypocritical drivers are in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Behind them are drivers in Greece, Luxembourg, and Finland. The least hypocritical drivers are in the UK, followed by their counterparts in Germany and Poland. The interactive map below shows the overall hypocrisy score and the extent of driver hypocrisy for each dangerous behaviour.

The analysis found little variation in the tolerance for bad behaviours. In other words, for any given behaviour — driving drunk or using a phone, for instance — there is generally a consensus across the continent about how acceptable it is. However, the share of drivers who admit to bad behaviour varies a lot from country to country.

1. (Not so) high on the highway

Driving under the influence of drugs is thankfully quite rare — but still happens often enough to pose a significant danger to other road users. Fewer than 1 in 10 drivers admit to getting behind the wheel after taking drugs in the last 30 days. The only exception is the United Kingdom, where just over 10% of drivers confessed to “substance-enhanced” driving.

2. A drunk driving dilemma

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a persistent issue in Europe, despite its known dangers. One research finding, cited in a 2024 ERSO report, estimates that 1.5% to 2% of kilometres driven in the European Union are completed with an illegal blood alcohol content. Moreover, around one in four road deaths are alcohol related.

3. Seat belt neglect

As the research below shows, many drivers still take to the road without wearing a seatbelt. It is the most basic of safety measures, but it has the potential to make the biggest difference. The latest European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) report confirms that wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of fatal or serious injuries by around 60%.

4. Failure to use a car seat

Like seat belts, child restraints can reduce the risk of child injury or death by around 55% to 60%, according to the same ERSO report.

5. Taking calls without hands-free mode enabled

Using a handheld phone while driving remains surprisingly common, despite widespread hands-free technologies like Bluetooth being accessible across Europe. Upwards of 40% of drivers in four countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Latvia, and Greece) admit to talking on a hand-held device at least once in the last 30 days.

6. On-the-go texting

The analysis revealed that only a handful of people across Europe — about 5% or less of each country’s surveyed population — find it acceptable to read or check a phone while driving. Nonetheless, at least 30% of drivers in eight countries (Luxembourg, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Latvia, and Sweden) have reportedly checked messages, social media or news on their phones in the last 30 days while in the driver’s seat.

7. The need for speed

If the stats around distracted driving seemed bad, buckle up (sorry, bad pun) for even worse news. According to the survey data, it seems we all want to feel like a Formula 1 driver from time to time by surpassing the legal speed limits.

Great Britain is the best at sticking to the speed limit, but that is hardly an honour: About 38% of drivers still sped at least once in the last 30 days. In 18 of the 22 countries, at least half of the drivers reported going faster than the posted limit.

The survey did not capture the extent of the speeding habits, so it is unclear whether the majority of drivers tend to toe the limit or wildly exceed it. What is clear, however, is the high tolerance for this behaviour despite excess speed being a leading cause of road traffic accidents: nearly one in three fatal crashes are the direct result of speeding, and slight changes can make a big difference.

Car occupants have a 33% risk of fatal injury at an impact speed of 80 km/h, which drops to 16% at 70 km/h.

Speeding is the most acceptable of all the bad driving habits. In many countries, around 15% to 20% of the population gives this behaviour a pass. Greece is the least tolerant (only 7% find speeding acceptable) even though about 57% of drivers in Greece admit to speeding in the last month. They are hypocrites, but are hardly the only ones.

Final thoughts

Our analysis of European driving behaviours reveals a consistent theme: While people overwhelmingly disapprove of dangerous driving practices, many still engage in these behaviours themselves. This disconnect between belief and action underscores the challenge of changing ingrained habits — even when the risks are well-known and the safety evidence is overwhelming.

The data does not always confirm stereotypes about European drivers.

Perhaps you thought that Eastern European countries like Latvia, Czechia, and Poland, known for high alcohol consumption, would top the drunk driving list. Or that Germany, with its world-famous autobahns and high-performance automobiles, would certainly be home to the speediest drivers.

Well, self-reported data depends on the honesty of the drivers — and how they view themselves relative to their cultural norms. For instance, drivers who talk on the phone or go faster than the posted limit may not see themselves doing those things any more than their peers, so they downplay the frequency with which they do them. Other cultural factors — such as road safety awareness, fears about admitting to bad behaviour, prevalence of highway patrols, and so on — may yield unexpected results in the rankings.

Why do people engage in risky or illegal driving behaviours even when they know they are wrong?

It could be a sense of invincibility or, in the case of speeding and phone use, a feeling of immediate gratification. In other cases, drivers may lack awareness or simply underestimate the risks. Emotional and mental states, especially when under the influence of drugs and alcohol, may also play a role. In addition, drivers may feel that they do not have a choice in the matter — particularly if they do not have access to alternative transportation after a night at the bar.

Looking forward, there is hope for improvement. “We must continue to educate and enforce,” says Ganska. “We should have a common goal to align people's actions with their beliefs, creating safer roads for everyone.”

Ultimately, driving behaviour is determined by the driver. So buckle up, slow down, and stay focused.

Methodology

Data collection

Motointegrator and the research team at DataPulse extracted survey data from 22 country-level reports published by the Brussels-based Vias Institute. The surveys were conducted in 2023 in partnership with road safety research organisations across the continent, and the reports were made public in January 2024.

The survey asked respondents how acceptable they found a variety of improper driving behaviours. It also asked drivers if they had engaged in a variety of improper driving behaviours in the last 30 days. For drunk driving, drivers were asked to report if they “may” have been over the legal blood alcohol content limit. After extracting all the data, the team focused the analysis on seven dangerous actions:

• driving within an hour of taking drugs (other than prescription and over the counter medication)
• driving under the influence of alcohol beyond the country’s legal limit for blood alcohol content
• driving without wearing a seatbelt
• failing to use a car seat or other proper child restraint when transporting children
• taking calls on a mobile phone without hands-free technology enabled
• driving while reading messages, social media, or news
• speeding beyond the posted limit on motorways and freeways

Finding the “hypocrisy gaps”

For each of the seven behaviours, the researchers quantified the discrepancy between public perception and the reality of driving norms. This calculation is the difference between the share of the country’s respondents who find the behaviour acceptable and the share of the country’s drivers who admit to recently doing the behaviour. The team created charts for each behaviour, showing this “hypocrisy gap” for every country.

Calculating a hypocrisy score

To calculate an overall hypocrisy score for each country, the research team took a weighted average of the seven “hypocrisy gaps.” The weights were assigned according to each behaviour’s severity — how dangerous they are relative to model driving behaviour and relative to each other.

The research team used a wide variety of academic studies and government reports to make this assessment. From a quantitative perspective, the team gathered research on:

• the number of crashes and road fatalities associated with each behaviour
• to what degree each behaviour increases the chances of a crash or fatality (vs. model driving behaviour)

The team also considered non-numeric factors, including:

• whether the behaviours are known to cause crashes/pose risk to other road users
• whether the behaviours increase injury severity in the event of a crash
• the variability of the behaviour (such as the level of intoxication, the type and quantity of drugs, and the excessiveness of speeding)

The assigned weights were 24% for drinking, 22% for drug use, 17% for reading a phone, 15% for handheld phone calls, 10% for speeding and 6% each for seat belt disuse and failure to properly restrain children.

Finally, to determine which countries had the most hypocritical drivers, the countries were ranked from the largest weighted average to the smallest weighted average.