HAMILTON– Are the roads more harried today, even as traffic has thinned out overall? Yes, according to a new AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study.
In the study – the 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index – 35% of drivers say they feel less safe than they did five years ago.
Overall, the majority of American motorists report that they feel no safer now than they did five years ago.
“The culture on the roads isn’t a courteous or forgiving culture,” AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman David Weinstein says. “To save lives, it needs to evolve.”
This study is an effort to continue the dialogue about improving an American traffic safety culture in which someone dies every 13 minutes on American roadways.
2009 AAA Traffic Safety Culture Index Findings
35% of drivers report that driving feels less safe today than it did five years ago.
Distracted driving, mentioned by 31%, was the most often cited reason.
Other major reasons that respondents mentioned for feeling less safe driving today than five years ago included:
Aggressive driving and/or road rage (20%)
Speeding (15%).
When asked about their driving behavior in the past month:
67% of drivers reported talking on the cell phone while driving; including 28% who reported doing so fairly often or regularly.
44% reported speeding 15 mph over the speed limit on freeways.
29% reported driving through a light that had already turned red even though they could have stopped safely.
27% reported tailgating another driver when they could have backed off.
24% reported speeding 15 mph over the speed limit on residential streets.
21% of drivers reported text messaging while driving.
Distracted driving was top-of-mind for motorists, with 80 percent of motorists rating distracted driving as a very serious threat to their safety. Even those who admitted to distracted driving acknowledged they were putting themselves in danger.
More than half of those who admitted to reading or sending text messages or e-mails while driving indicated they were much more likely to have an accident.
A previous AAA Foundation survey found two out of three drivers mistakenly believe using a hands-free cell phone is safer than talking on a hand-held device.
In this survey, the use of a hands-free cell phone was the only behavior that more than half of all drivers rated as acceptable, yet numerous other studies have shown it is equally as dangerous as talking on a hand-held phone – both quadruple your risk of being in a crash.
Dennisville – As a parent of a Tech student it would be great if the school would update their staff directory. So many old staff still listed and no new teachers listed. What gives?
