Survey says one thing; drivers do the opposite

Press release from AAA Idaho:

BOISE - For the fourth consecutive year, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's annual Traffic Safety Culture Index shows drivers know that cell phone use and texting while driving are dangerous, yet they continue to do it anyway.

Data from the 2011 survey show that 95 percent of drivers view texting or emailing by other drivers as a serious threat to their own safety, however, 35 percent of those same drivers also admitted to having read or sent a text message or email in the previous month.

The survey also found that 88 percent of drivers nationwide think talking on a cell phone while driving is a serious threat to their personal safety; Yet, 67 percent also admitted that they had talked on a cell phone while driving in the past month.

"We need to close the gap between what drivers view as important for everyone else, while doing the same thing when they think no one is watching," said AAA Idaho Public Affairs Director Dave Carlson.

The AAA Foundation's Traffic Safety Culture Index is a survey which looks at the attitudes and behaviors of drivers on a variety of issues, including distracted driving.

During Heads Up Driving Week (HUDW), October 2-8, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and AAA clubs are furthering efforts to educate drivers on the dangers of distracted driving, focusing on the use of cell phones while driving.

Distracted Driving By the Numbers

Texting and cell phone use are not the only distractions in the car, but they are the major preventable ones that have drawn the attention of researchers, safety advocates, lawmakers and the general public. The threat is real, researchers say, because studies of cell phone records of crash-involved drivers suggest that using a cell phone while driving is associated with roughly a quadrupling of crash risk.

The Cellular Telephone Industry Association says there were 303 million people in the U.S. with a wireless subscription at the end of 2010, representing a 300 percent growth rate in the past decade.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated 448,000 who were injured in vehicle crashes involved distracted driving last year. NHTSA estimates that 16 percent of fatal crashes and fatalities involve distracted driving.

Idaho's Office of Highway Safety concluded that in 2009, 60 fatalities resulted from inattentive or distracted driving crashes, representing 27 percent of all fatalities. Estimates of the number of crashes, injuries and deaths caused by distracted driving vary due to limitations of existing motor vehicle crash data. Idaho and other states are working to improve crash data reporting.

The AAA Foundation's safety campaign aims to inspire drivers to pledge to a week of distraction-free driving while encouraging them to "Try it for a Week and Do it for Life".

The research continues to illustrate a "Do as I Say, Not as I Do" attitude persists among drivers, perpetuating the threat that places these particular distractions alongside drunk driving as among the most dangerous actions drivers take on the road.

Laws are Part of the Solution

Idaho is just one of 16 states that has not enacted an anti-texting laws. Currently, 34 states have passed laws prohibiting texting while driving. Nine of those states and the District of Columbia have passed hand-held cell phone bans for all drivers.

Meanwhile, six Idaho cities have moved forward to pass local texting ordinances since last year (Twin Falls, Meridian, Blackfoot, Sandpoint, Rexburg and Payette).

"The actions by these cities is consistent with the strong measure of public support expressed across the country," Carlson said. Surveys show 87 percent of drivers support having a law against reading, typing, or sending a text message or email while driving.

"When we reached out to Idahoans last February to hear about their experiences with drivers who text and use cell phones, we were overwhelmed by the responses supporting specific bans on cell phone use," according to Carlson.

The Idaho legislature has considered several bills during the past two years, but has failed to agree on a single approach that satisfies law enforcement, prosecutors and lawmakers.

Public Outreach

During the past several years, high school organizations in the state have reached out to take on the texting while driving issue. In addition, numerous law enforcement agencies and groups like AAA have spent time at safety fairs and participating in go-cart demonstrations and other activities to address the dangerous behaviors associated with cell phones.

A Strategic Highway Safety Program (SHSP) committee has for two years been working on multiple approaches to address distracted driving in Idaho. The committee is considering engineering, educational, enforcement, public outreach and legislative components to address the issue.

"The AAA Foundation's work in this area draws public attention that helps identify the crucial disconnects between public perceptions and behaviors," Carlson said. "More importantly, this work shows us that the solution starts in my car."

The AAA Foundation's fourth annual Traffic Safety Culture Index was conducted June 6 - 28, 2011 by Knowledge Networks for the AAA Foundation, with a nationally representative sample of 3,147 U.S. residents ages 16 and older using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The survey has a margin of error of approximately ± 2.3 percent at a 95% confidence level. More technical information is available at

www.knowledgenetworks.com.