New research from road safety charity Brake has highlighted the considerable proportion of UK road users that have been required to take evasive action due to another driver carrying out a risky overtaking manoeuvre in the last year.

Overall, 80 per cent of the 1,000 respondents that took part in the survey said they had felt endangered when out on the roads by the risky overtaking of another motorist in recent months, while one in five (18 per cent) admitted to overtaking when they knew it was not safe to do so.

A total of one in seven (14 per cent) respondents also stated they had been required to undertake some kind of avoiding behaviour – either braking, swerving or pulling over – as a result of another driver cutting them up and overtaking them in an aggressive manner.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend commented: "Overtaking on single carriageway country roads is a huge risk, and one that ultimately just isn't worth it. Why risk it and rush? You could cause a devastating, high speed, head-on crash that ends lives and ruins others.

"In spite of this, a significant minority are still taking the risk and performing this aggressive and selfish manoeuvre."

Drivers need to remember that on many country roads visibility can be extremely poor. This, coupled with the higher national speed limit that is in effect on many rural routes, means the risks of being involved in a serious accident can increase greatly when drivers do not act in a safe and responsible way and undertake risky overtakes.

Rob Miles, director of motor at Direct Line, concluded: "Drivers should remember that patience is a virtue when it comes to deciding to overtake another vehicle, as it could be a life saver."