One in three people reading this column have had a friend or relative seriously injured or killed in an automotive crash. That statistic comes from a newly released study by AAA.
The study, “2014 Traffic Safety Index,” provides a very detailed and interesting look at drivers’ personal experiences, habits and views on assorted driving subjects.
According to the AAA index, not only have one in three drivers known someone in a serious or fatal crash, one in five drivers have themselves been involved in a serious crash.
The study delves deeply into driver’s behaviors and their opinions on certain driving issues.
For example, a vast majority of respondents view drinking and driving as a serious issue, but one in eight people admitted to driving at least once in the last year when they thought their alcohol level might have been close to or possibly over the legal limit. One in eight. That’s not a small number. Almost 20 percent of those that admitted to possibly driving while impaired had done so in the last month.
Over 80 percent of people favored mandatory alcohol-ignition interlocks for drivers convicted of a DUI, even for first time offenders. I whole-heartedly agree with this by the way.
Sixty-three percent feel that the legal blood alcohol limit should be lowered from 0.08 to 0.05. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I do believe that if the limit was lowered it might start to change people’s habits and perhaps decrease the number of impaired drivers.
One of the highlights of the study was the section on cell phone use by drivers. More than two in three drivers admitted to talking on their cell phone while driving during the past month, and almost one in three say they do it regularly. In Georgia, talking on your cell phone is legal, but in 14 states and Washington DC, it is illegal unless you are using a hands-free device.
The data matches the laws for the most part. Almost 68 percent of drivers support restricting the use of hand held cell phones while driving, but only 40 percent would like to see a total ban of cells phones, even hands free devices.
I think that eventually we will see a complete ban on cell phones nationwide. I admit to using my cell phone while driving, but the more data that becomes available, I believe that it is inevitable that talking on cells phones while driving will become a thing of the past.
The index showed that texting while driving (illegal in Georgia and 43 other states) is considered a very serious threat by most drivers. That being said, over 25 percent of respondents admit to typing or sending a text or email while driving in the past month. Over 36 percent report reading a text message or email while driving in the past month.
While those numbers seem high, based on what I see on the roads every day, I thought they would be higher.
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