NEARLY 50 per cent of drivers admit breaking traffic laws – with around half of them doing so deliberately, according to a survey.

As many as 49 per cent said they flouted road regulations, the poll from road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line showed.

Of those breaking the rules, half said they did so through inattention while the other half did so deliberately because they thought they could get away with it or did not agree with the laws.

As many as 60 per cent of women surveyed, but only 42 per cent of men, said they never broke road regulations, with men twice as likely as women to flout the laws.

The poll, which looked at 1,000 drivers, also revealed:

• Drivers are more confident in the safety of their own driving than they were ten years ago, with 69 per cent rating themselves as safer than most other drivers, up from 50 per cent in 2005

• Drivers judge each other more harshly than themselves, with 58 per cent saying there are definitely more dangerous drivers than safe drivers on UK roads

• Young drivers (17-24) are most likely to rate their driving as safer than others, with 58 per cent saying they are “much” safer

• When drivers were asked what unsafe behaviour they had witnessed most in the last year, distraction (such as from mobile phones) was the biggest concern, followed by tailgating, speeding and risky overtaking.