More than a fifth of Irish motorists have broken the speed limit this month, according to new research from AA Ireland.

An AA survey found that men are more likely to speed, with 28% saying they never break the limit compared to 40% of women.

Drivers aged 36 - 45 are the worst culprits, with over a quarter admitting to speeding.

21.07% of more than 7,000 respondents to an AA Motor Insurance survey admitted that they had broken the speed limit within the past month. Meanwhile, a further 8.76% and 10.13% admitted to speeding both within the past 6 months and within the last year. 

Despite the increase in traffic on Irish roads, there was some positive news as the survey found that over a third of motorists, 35.06%, have never broken the speed limit.

Driving behaviours 

AA Director of Consumer Affairs, Conor Faughnan said "When it comes to road safety there is no doubt that speeding kills and puts the driver, their passengers and all other road users in unnecessary risk.

"While these findings did contain some positive news, it appears that many motorists still hold the perception that speeding is, for some reason acceptable."

"Last year represented a step backwards in terms of road safety as we saw road deaths increase year-on-year and as part of ensuring that 2016 doesn’t represent a new trend is making simple changes to our own driving behaviours."

He finished by saying "We do have an issue in this country where we see irresponsibly high speed limits on narrow, winding roads and to a similar extent needlessly low limits in certain areas."