A survey of Irish motorists shows that other drivers' use of a hand-held mobile phone while behind the wheel is the single most annoying bad habit on the road.

Some 68.4% of drivers listed this as their biggest annoyance when it comes to bad habits of other drivers.

The other most annoying habits that irked respondents included overtaking illegally or dangerously, driving too slowly, not indicating or generally bad lane use and breaking the speed limit.

More than half of drivers - 51% - said that looking down at a mobile phone while texting, using apps or the internet was more dangerous than making a call with a handset held to the ear.

The research for Continental Tyres was commissioned to address how road safety can be improved and accidents reduced.

Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland said: "Driving is a complex task that requires our full attention and concentration - when the bad habits of other drivers distract us from that task that can have serious implications for road safety".

In an effort to tackle the problem of drivers' bad habits, respondents called for more education of drivers (40.9%) and/or more garda enforcement of the laws governing driving (34.2%).

However, showing a certain amount of double standards, some 45% of the same people admitted to regularly breaking the speed limit - and nearly 40% said that they regularly use a hand-held mobile phone while behind the wheel.

And it seems that other drivers’ bad habits are a key cause of road rage - as nearly one in two motorists said that they react to other drivers’ bad habits aggressively by either hitting the horn or shouting/using a hand gesture.

Nearly one in five said that seeing other drivers’ bad habits make them drive more aggressively - either faster, to overtake the offending driver, or deliberately slowing down ahead of the offender to show their frustration.