More than half of British Columbians think drivers in their city are worse now than they were five years ago.

According to a Research Co. poll, 57 per cent of B.C. residents think drivers in their city are worse now than five years ago, compared to 48 per cent nationally.

Canadians over 55 years old think drivers are getting worse, with 58 per cent saying so, compared to 34 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds.

The poll found that seven in 10 Canadians had seen a driver turning without signalling in the last month, while 54 per cent had spotted a vehicle taking up two parking spaces.

Almost half (49 per cent) of B.C. residents had seen a driver turning right or left from an incorrect lane, higher than the national average of 40 per cent.

READ MORE: Almost half of B.C.'s young adults say they'll leave the province: poll

More than one-third of Canadians, 37 per cent, had a close call driving in the last month, such as slamming on the brakes or steering violently to avoid a collision. In Atlantic Canada that number jumped to 48 per cent and in Alberta 44 per cent.

"Only 15 per cent of Canadians say they did not see any illegal or regrettable behaviour on the road over the past month," Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a media release. "This represents a 12-point drop since our previous survey in 2021."

The majority of British Columbians (67 per cent) blame a specific group of people for bad driving.

The top four responses by Canadians who point the finger at a specific group for bad driving behaviours are "young" (40 per cent), "Asian" (19 per cent), "elderly" (18 per cent) and "immigrant" (eight per cent).


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