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. […]

DriveCam: A Trucker’s Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about a product called DriveCam. These little video cameras are starting to pop up in tractor-trailers and commercial vehicle across the country. The camera is mounted near the rear-view mirror and records video and audio 24/7. However, the DriveCam is similar to a black box in that, it only keeps a few seconds of footage before and after an occurrence of “exceptional force” (i.e. hard braking, swerving, collision, etc.).

The company claims that using their product can help other companies identify and improve risky driver behaviors, thus, reducing vehicle damages, workers’ compensation and personal injury costs by 30 to 90 percent. That’s quite a claim. Watch a CNN interview with the CEO of DriveCam here.

Some truckers are against DriveCam, feeling like “Big Brother” is invading the cab. However, some are excited about its possibilities. The camera will capture an adequate history of the event, […]