AAA: 9% Admit Driving Drunk, 54% Admit Using Phone While Driving

Traffic safety poll displays drivers’ hypocritical behavior

The AAA Foundation, the non-profit arm of AAA Auto Club, recently released its annual Traffic Safety Culture Index for 2008.

The survey, conducted on nearly 3,000 American motorists 18+, revealed a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality amongst most drivers.

75% of those surveyed feel that they are safer drivers than others out on our nation’s roadways; however, most admit to engaging in the same risky behavior they deem “serious or extremely serious” safety violations by others.

87% rate drunk driving as the number one concern they have about roadway safety; however, 9% (roughly 15 million adult motorists) admit to having driven under the influence within the past 30 days. This includes almost 2% that report doing it “very often.”

After drunk driving, 82% of participants rated distracted driving as the #2 concern for road safety. Yet, more than half, 54% of us, admit to having used cell phones while driving, and 14% admitted texting while driving.

74% of those surveys rated speeding as a concern, of which, 39% (2 out of 5) have exceeded the speed limit by 15 mph or more on our highways and 14% admit to exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph or more on our neighborhood streets.

Safe driving isn’t something that other drivers should worry about, it is something that EVERY driver should worry about. Even though 75% of those involved with the AAA Foundation’s survey deemed themselves safer drivers than others on the road, they admit to performing the exact behaviors that they criticized others for doing!

So even if you’ve used your cell phone a million times without incident, that doesn’t make it safe. Just because you’ve managed to get yourself home after a night at the bar, doesn’t mean you are a “good” driver when you are drunk. The facts are facts. 40,000 Americans are killed in automobile crashes, and millions of others are injured each year. Drunk and distracted driving, speeding and going without a seatbelt are dangerous acts and they can result in irreparable damage, not to mention serious legal implications- and trust me, juries hate drunk drivers.