Drivers Not Living Up to their Own Standards on Road Safety
Drivers are expected to obey all driver safety laws and also to be reasonably prudent when they get in their car and operate their vehicles. Many drivers try to live up to this expectation, recognizing that driving is a privilege and that bad drivers are dangerous. However, a surprising number of drivers regularly engage in driving behavior that they know to be risky. 
A recent 2012 Traffic Safety Culture Index released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed just how many drivers aren’t practicing what they preach when it comes to driver safety. Our New Haven, CT personal injury lawyers were distressed to read of the findings on this recent survey, and we urge all drivers to carefully consider their own behavior to make sure that they are living up to reasonable driver safety standards and steering clear of risky behavior.
Drivers Answer on Safety Standards and Driver Behavior
The AAA survey asked drivers about their opinions on certain dangerous driving behaviors. The survey also asked drivers what they actually do when they are behind the wheel. As the results showed, many drivers think that certain driving actions are dangerous but still do those very same actions. For example:
- Drunk driving was viewed as very dangerous, and 80.5 percent of survey respondents supported requiring an ignition interlock device for all first time DUI offenders. Yet, 14 percent of drivers said they’d driven when they may have been drunk at least once in their lives and 2.1 percent said they’d done so in just the past month.
- Texting and driving was viewed as very dangerous, with most drivers considering the behavior completely unacceptable. Yet, 26.6 percent said that they’d texted or used a wireless handheld device to send an email while driving in the past month alone.
- Talking on a cell and driving was also viewed as risky. Almost half of drivers wanted to ban the practice outright, regardless of whether the talker used a hands free device. Yet, more than out of every three drivers said they’d talked on their phones in the past month while driving.
- Almost three-quarters of drivers expressed disapproval for going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit on a highway. Yet, 49.3 percent said they’d gone at least that fast in the past month.
- 89.1 percent of drivers felt it was dangerous and unacceptable to exceed the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or more in a residential area. However, 46.8 percent said they’d gone at least that fast in a residential area in the past month.
- 38.4 percent said they’d gone through a red light although the vast majority of drivers said this behavior was dangerous and unacceptable.
- Drowsy driving was almost universally viewed as bad news, but one-third of drivers said they’d had some trouble keeping their eyes open as they drove in the past month and 45.9 percent said that they had fallen asleep behind the wheel one or more times in their lives.
Clearly, therefore, drivers have certain standards and beliefs about what is unacceptable and dangerous when it comes to driving, and yet many drivers are not living up to their own standards. This is a dangerous disconnect, and we urge all drivers to start doing what they know is right behind the wheel.
If you’ve been in an auto accident, contact the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.