Overtaking can scare, or kill you

If you're a male driver in the UK, you're more than twice as likely to have experienced head-on near misses than women drivers, and more likely to take a 'blind' overtaking risk, writes Brian Byrne.

That's one conclusion from a survey by UK road safety charity Brake, in conjunction with Direct Line insurance.

The survey also found that around half of respondents have admitted to being afraid at some time in the last year when travelling as a passenger with a male driver in an overtaking situation. Significantly more women (52%) than men (44%) said this.

Men are also twice as likely to break the speed limit on rural roads than women. Six out of 10 road deaths in Britain are on such roads.