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An estimated 87 percent of people have engaged in at least one risky behavior within the past month while driving, AAA's new report indicates.
These behaviors include driving while distracted, impaired or drowsy; speeding; running red lights; or not wearing a seat belt, according to the Foundation’s latest Traffic Safety Culture Index study.
Drivers in the study admit to engaging in these behaviors regularly.
According to the AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety, these results come as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports the number of 2014 fatalities hit nearly 33,000. The agency also projects a 9 percent increase in auto deaths in 2015.
The National Safety Council, while reviewing its preliminary figures, contends 2015 is the deadliest driving year since 2008.
“There’s a culture of indifference for far too many drivers when it comes to road safety,” said Peter Kissinger, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety president and CEO. “The vast majority of motorists believe they’re more careful than others on the road, although most don’t make safe decisions while behind the wheel.”
Some key findings:
- Nearly 1 in 5 drivers report driving without a seatbelt.
- More than 2 in 3 drivers report talking on a cell phone.
- More than 2 in 5 drivers admit to reading text messages or emails.
- Nearly half of all drivers report going 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway.
- Nearly 1 in 3 drivers say they’ve driven when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.
- More than 1 in 8 motorists report driving when their alcohol level might have been near or over the legal limit.
Car crashes continue to rank among the leading causes of death in the United States.
Click here to read the report.
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