Most Indians Worry About Safety While On Road

Seventy-six per cent Indians worry about safety when on the road, with the biggest worry being related to travel money; more than 50 per cent are prepared for potential mishaps on a trip; 81 per cent rate travellers cheques as the "safest" payment tool when travelling and most Indians were least likely to empty their wallets of unnecessary items(26 per cent) or safeguard travel funds by using a money belt (34per cent ).

These are some of the findings of the global travel safety survey conducted by Research International of London for American Express Travel Related Services.

The transnational survey included 1,950 travellers in 1998 from 13 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, mexico, Singapore, South Africa, the UK and the US.

The survey showed that travellers from Mexico were the most concerned about their belongings both at home and abroad. Brazilians (71 per cent) and Indians (68 per cent) will worry about security during domestic travel, while globetrotters from Germany (78 per cent), Japan (77 per cent) and Australia (73 per cent) expressed most concerns when leaving their country.

The survey revealed that Japanese were the most confident while on their home turf with a comparatively smaller percentage of French, British and Hong Kong citizens being worried about their financial belongings when travelling abroad.

More than two-thirds of all respondents (63 per cent) rated travellers cheques as the "safest" payment method.

On a country-by-country basis, the largest percentages of very safe ratings for travellers cheques came from the UK (82 per cent), the US and India (81 per cent).

Indians, Brazalians, South Africans and Australians are among the most prepared for potential mishaps and more than 50 per cent would leave copies of travel documents at home (including credit cards, travellers cheques serial numbers, etc) in case they are lost. Only 18 per cent of the French would this.