by Vas Kara

It seems that some fashions, although immensely popular with celebrities, fashion magazines and the general public, are not the most practical for female drivers. The latest craze for long fringes is putting people on the road in danger. Eye-skimming fringes, copied from celebrity styles, mean some female drivers are in danger of a disaster, a survey revealed.

The survey revealed that 67% of women have a hairstyle which could, potentially, fall into their eyes while they are driving a vehicle. In this poll, which was conducted of 1,000 female drivers, half admitted they did not tie back their hair before embarking on a journey. 33% did not think it was necessary to control their hair before driving and 8% said they did not want to ruin their hair.

Of the women surveyed 1% admitted that their hairstyle had caused an accident, near-miss or a sudden, unexpected manoeuvre due to their vision being temporarily impaired. The survey was conducted by women's car insurance company Sheila's Wheels, and also discovered three out of five women take their hands from the wheel to rearrange their hair or move it out of their eyes.

Sheila's Wheels' spokesperson, Jacky Brown commented: "Not many women think of their hair as a potential driving distraction. But with the latest trends requiring styling round the face and eyes, it's essential we are aware of safety."

According to the survey, women in Northern Ireland were the most fashion conscious, 80% regularly change their hairstyle to keep up with the latest trends. North-east England's women were least concerned about following fashion trends and south-west England's women drivers have the most practical driving haircuts.

Brown pointed out: "There are so many hair accessories available that can secure hair in place without compromising style. It's just about finding the right one for you and making sure it's handy whenever you step behind the wheel."

High profile hairdresser, Martyn Maxey commented on the study, he said: "For some celebrities, a change of hairstyle is headline news. Take Kate Moss and The Fringe for example - in recent weeks we've been inundated with requests for the long fringe and despite it falling over the eyes, it's now a fashion statement and people want it."

Maxey continued by giving tips for having beautiful hair and driving safely, he recommended keeping a hairband, headband or alice band in the car's glove compartment at all times. He said that for the extremely style conscious there are many different styles of hair slides available to clip long fringes or styles that may interfere with driving, back.

Other suggestions he makes are to leave a chunky velcro roller in a long fringe while driving to keep it out of your eyes, when you arrive at your destination your fringe will be perfectly styled, for the ultimate glamour, a pair of designer sunglasses propped on top of your head will keep all stray hairs out of your face.

Fashionable hairstyles are obviously not only going to be practical for driving, however it is easy enough for women to keep a range of hair accessories in their car to minimise risks of accidents due to something as silly as hair in the eyes.

So, is it worth risking accidents to stay stylish in the car? It seems that it is not only the risk of hair falling into the eyes and obstructing vision that is a problem, but also women removing both their attention from the road and their hands from the wheel to rearrange their hair.

It seems women should be more concerned about their safety , that of any passengers and others on the road, than they should be about the immaculate state of their appearance, namely their hair.