`Drugged driving OK'. (Risk-taking).

A survey conducted for Australian Associated Motor Insurers Ltd found that 18% of young drivers aged under 25 believed driving after using drugs was safer than driving after drinking alcohol. Nine per cent thought that driving after taking `a little bit of recreational drugs' was not a safety issue at all.

Also, 84% thought they were better drivers than everyone else - an opinion not supported by the facts, said AAMI's Tasmanian corporate affairs director Richard Jeffrey. `Young drivers were the most likely to be involved in an accident,' he said. Young drivers were also more likely to take risks, the survey found. They were also twice as likely as other drivers to run a red light, throw litter, or use a mobile phone without a hands-free kit.

AAMI's Queensland spokesman Mike Sopinksi said he drew some encouragement from the fact that 85% of those surveyed agreed that they would be safer drivers if they undertook a defensive driving course (Courier-Mail, 10/12/01, p.3; Mercury, 10/12/01, p.6).