{"id":16404,"date":"2020-06-15T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=16404"},"modified":"2020-06-15T11:09:51","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T16:09:51","slug":"aaa-says-drivers-know-its-wrong-but-many-do-it-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2020\/06\/15\/aaa-says-drivers-know-its-wrong-but-many-do-it-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"AAA says Drivers Know It\u2019s Wrong, But Many Do It Anyway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-92839\" title=\"AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/AAA-Foundation-for-Traffic-Safety.gif\" alt=\"AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\" width=\"250\" height=\"111\"><strong>Washington, D.C.<\/strong> &#8211; The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\u2019s latest research finds drivers who have been in at least one crash in the past two years are significantly more likely to engage in risky behaviors like speeding or texting, even when they think the police may catch them.<\/p>\n<p>After three months of staying at home, AAA urges drivers to keep everyone safe on the roads and warns motorists against falling back into dangerous driving habits.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_492722\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Texting-while-Driving.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-492722\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-492722\" title=\"New research shows crash-involved drivers admit to risky driving behaviors. (AAA)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Texting-while-Driving-480x260.jpg\" alt=\"New research shows crash-involved drivers admit to risky driving behaviors. (AAA)\" width=\"480\" height=\"260\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-492722\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New research shows crash-involved drivers admit to risky driving behaviors. (AAA)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe frequency of drivers in the United States engaging in improper behavior is too high. While drivers acknowledge that certain activities behind the wheel \u2013 like texting, are dangerous, some do them anyway,\u201d said Dr. David Yang, Executive Director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be aware of the serious consequences of engaging in these types of dangerous driving behavior and change course,\u201d Yang stated.<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation\u2019s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index (TSCI), which highlights the gap between drivers\u2019 attitudes and their reported behaviors, found that drivers perceive distracted, aggressive and impaired driving as dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Yet many of them admit to engaging in at least one of these exact behaviors in the 30 days before the survey. The numbers were even higher for those involved in a recent crash:&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>50% of those involved in a recent crash admit to <strong>talking on a hand-held device while driving<\/strong> in the past month vs. 42% not involved in a crash<\/li>\n<li>43% of those involved in a recent crash admit to <strong>texting while driving <\/strong>in the past month vs. 27% not involved in a crash<\/li>\n<li>39% of those involved in a recent crash admit to <strong>running a red light<\/strong> in the past month vs. 30% not involved in a crash<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This data shows that people are not altering their behavior even when it has resulted in a crash.<\/p>\n<p>Of all dangerous driving tasks, drivers dubbed these two extremely or very dangerous:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Driving when so tired, it was hard to keep your eyes open (96%)<\/li>\n<li>Driving while typing or sending a text message or an email (96%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yet these same drivers text when behind the wheel, even believing there is a risk of getting caught by police for reading (43.7%) or typing (42.7%) a text message. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not all bad news. When compared with 2018 findings, drivers reported they are engaging in some dangerous behaviors <em>less frequently<\/em>. Drivers who said talking on a hand-held cell phone saw the most significant decrease, down from 52.1% to 43.2%, while drowsy driving and texting both fell by 3 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[470center]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you point to the dangerous driving behaviors of others that you sometimes do yourself, then you are the problem,\u201d said Jake Nelson, AAA\u2019s director of traffic safety advocacy and research. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged to see a slight shift toward safer driving behaviors, but we have more work to do. Stay focused on driving. This is a must.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AAA recommends these safety tips to keep in mind.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Out of sight, out of mind<\/strong>. Stow your smartphone away, turn it to airplane mode, or activate call\/text blocking features like Apple\u2019s Do Not Disturb.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Slow down. <\/strong>Drivers tend to overestimate time saved by speeding. You\u2019d have to travel 100 miles to save roughly 5 minutes, moving at 75 mph instead of 70 mph. Speed kills and isn\u2019t worth the cost.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay alert<\/strong>. Stop driving if you become sleepy because you could fall asleep at any time. Fatigue impacts reaction time, judgment, and vision, causing people who are very tired to behave in similar ways to those who are drunk.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Only drive sober<\/strong>. If you consume marijuana, alcohol, or use potentially impairing prescription medications, then don\u2019t drive.&nbsp; And if you\u2019re going to drive, then don\u2019t consume these substances. If you are taking prescription medications, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.roadwiserx.com\/\" >Roadwise Rx<\/a> to learn if they can impair driving.<\/li>\n<li><strong>And always wear your seat belt.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The annual TSCI identifies attitudes and behaviors related to traffic safety. The survey data are from a sample of 2,714 licensed drivers ages 16 or older who reported driving in the 30 days before the survey, which was administered between Sept. 6 and Oct. 8, 2019. The AAA Foundation issued its first TSCI in 2008, and the latest report is online: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/aaafoundation.org\/\" >AAAFoundation.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[470center]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>About AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety<\/h3>\n<p>Established in 1947 by AAA, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a nonprofit, publicly funded, 501(c)(3) charitable research and educational organization. The AAA Foundation\u2019s mission is to prevent traffic deaths and injuries by researching their causes and by educating the public about strategies to prevent crashes and reduce injuries when they do occur. This research develops educational materials for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and other road users.<\/p>\n<h3>About AAA<\/h3>\n<p>AAA provides more than 60 million members with automotive, travel, insurance and financial services through its federation of 32 motor clubs and nearly 1,100 branch offices across North America. Since 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for safe mobility. Drivers can request roadside assistance, identify nearby gas prices, locate discounts, book a hotel or map a route via the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aaa.com\/mobile\" >AAA Mobile app<\/a>. To join, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aaa.com\/\" >AAA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C. &#8211; The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety\u2019s latest research finds drivers who have been in at least one crash in the past two years are significantly more likely to engage in risky behaviors like speeding or texting, even when they think the police may catch them. After three months of staying at home, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1361,2501,8277,2234,9272,11667,3338],"class_list":["post-16404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-aaa","tag-aaa-foundation-for-traffic-safety","tag-speeding","tag-texting-while-driving","tag-the-auto-club-group","tag-vehicle-crash","tag-washington-d-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16405,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16404\/revisions\/16405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}