Publication of Road Safety Issues in Northern Ireland 2021/22

The Road Safety Issues in Northern Ireland 2021/2022 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 2021/2022 Continuous Household Survey (CHS). The publication is available on the ASRB website.

Key Points:

• The majority of respondents (90%) responded correctly that the presence of street lights, generally means that the speed limit is 30 miles per hour.
• Almost three fifths of all drivers (58%) reported that they used their phone in some capacity while driving a car. This is a decrease from the 64% reported in 2020/21.
• Making a hands-free call accounted for the highest usage in a moving (49%) or stationary vehicle (47%), while six percent of drivers admitted to making a hand-held call while driving.
• Older drivers were identified as the group who were least likely to use their phone while driving with just under a third (30%) of those aged 65 or over admitting having done so in the last 12 months.
• The top 3 risks stated by respondents of using a mobile phone while driving were being more likely to cause a crash (94%), being more likely to be involved in a crash (90%) and being less likely to notice a danger ahead (87%).
• More than half (54%) of respondents believe that drivers were likely to be stopped by police for using their mobile phone while driving.       

Notes to editors: 

1. The information presented in this publication derives from the 2021/2022 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to the attitudes, awareness and behaviours of respondents to specific road safety issues. The topics included are speed limits indicated by street lighting and how people interact with their mobile phone while driving in either a moving or stationary vehicle plus their perceived likelihood of being caught by police while using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.  
2. The CHS is considered to be a representative sample of the population at household level. A total of 4,103 adults aged 16 and over were surveyed in 2021/2022 with 4,063 providing responses to at least one of the road safety questions. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2021/22 survey was moved from face-to-face interviewing to telephone mode. Caution should therefore be taken when comparing the results of this survey with previous years.
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.
4. Other Road Safety research produced can be found at: Road Safety Research. Additional Road Safety statistics including the Road Safety Strategy Annual Monitoring Report can be found at Road Safety Strategy 2020 Statistics.
5. 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.
6. For further information please contact:

•     Tel (public enquiries): 028 9054 0029 (Text relay prefix 18001)
•     Email: ASRB@nisra.gov.uk
•     Website: DfI Statistics and Research

7. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
8. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
9. Follow the Department for Infrastructure on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure

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