As you and your RV motor down the highway, do you ever face problems with someone’s dangerous driving? It wouldn’t be a surprise. A new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says more than half of drivers on the road exhibit dangerous driving behavior. Only 4 out of 10 can be considered “Safe Drivers.”
Fewer traffic stops, but fatality crashes up
AAA says part of the problem we’re seeing is rebound from the pandemic. During those “isolated” times, fewer people were on the road and traffic volume was low. But now, with far more miles driven daily, police are making fewer traffic stops. While stops may be low, fatality crashes are up. Risky behaviors like impaired driving and speeding remain an epidemic on our roadways. Yes, dangerous driving is the order of the day.
“Despite acknowledging the dangers, some drivers continue to engage in potentially deadly behaviors, particularly speeding,” said Dr. David Yang, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety President and Executive Director. “Understanding the different types of risky driving behaviors and the characteristics of drivers who engage in them is crucial for developing targeted interventions to achieve safe mobility.”
What AAA found in its study of the situation is revealing. “Many risky drivers in this study were classified into profiles that involved speeding behavior,” the report found. “Focusing on speeding drivers will deter other risky driving behaviors like impaired driving and red-light running. This traffic safety measure will have the greatest impact on safety.”
Perception of speeding can lead to dangerous driving
According to the new Traffic Safety Culture Index (TSCI) report, fewer drivers perceive speeding as dangerous. Speeding behaviors have the lowest perceived social disapproval of all the examined unsafe driving behaviors. Interestingly, a motorist’s need for speed consistently fails to deliver shorter travel times. It would take driving 100 miles at 80 mph instead of 75 mph to shave just 5 minutes off a trip.
Driving profiles—one good, five bad
Six driver profiles were identified by the latest Traffic Safety Culture Index (TSCI). Here’s the single safe driving profile, and five dangerous driving ones.
- Safe Drivers (41.2%) – Few in this group reported engaging in any risky driving-related behaviors, and more women (57%) composed the Safe Drivers group.
- Speeding Drivers (22.7%) – These drivers reported driving 15 mph over the speed limit on freeways and/or 10 mph over on residential streets. They did not engage in most other dangerous behaviors.
- Distracted and Aggressive Drivers (17.3%) – Reported distracted driving behaviors (texting while driving), speeding, and aggressive behaviors, such as red-light running and switching lanes quickly.
- Distracted Drivers (15.0%) – These drivers reported distracted driving behaviors such as reading text messages and texting while driving.
- Most Dangerous Drivers (2.4%) – While these drivers consisted of only a small percentage of the drivers, they pose a serious risk to themselves and other road users. They reported engaging in all risky driving-related behaviors.
- Impaired Drivers (1.3%) – Most live in non-metropolitan areas. Interestingly, drivers with a 4-year college degree were far less likely to report driving while impaired. At the same time, the most “over-represented” group consisted of those with some college or an associate degree.
Do as I say, not as I do?
Participants were asked about how they viewed levels of danger for different types of driving behavior. The majority saw unsafe driving behaviors as very or extremely dangerous. But as in past years, many admitted to doing these very behaviors at least once in the previous 30 days.
##RVT1133b
Dash Camera can be your friend. Wish that there was a clearinghouse for report videos to the insurance companies. Of course, they might not be insured.
Automatic speed controls are coming to your computer controlled car.
1984 just got the year wrong.
Dash cams should be a factory option on all vehicles. Better yet, make them mandatory like they did with backup cameras. The one I use in my car and truck has time of day, speed and GPS coordinates saved on the video. The resolution is also good enough to read a license plate at about 100 feet. Even the rear view cameras could be recording at all times and only displayed when the vehicle is in reverse.
Traffic levels increase annually.
Fact, we have a finite number of lane miles in our infrastructure. There are Two ways to increase flow of traffic. Add more lanes or increase the speed limit on the existing roads.
The cost of building new lanes is staggering and in many jurisdictions impossible to fund. The alternative is to raise the speed limits to move more traffic on existing lanes.
Finally , Defensive Driving requires traveling at the speed of traffic and not blindly driving at the speed limit.
The speed limit stickler is creating a dangerous hazard by being a bolder in the stream. Laws of physics require that H2O has to flow faster around the boulder and it will.
I can’t go along with raising the speed limits at all. The risk will far outweigh any perceived benefit, plus if there is an accident. the damage will escalate with the speed. I’d rather see more enforcement with stricter penalties.
I agree 100%. If it doesn’t hit them in the wallet they won’t change. I hope Bisonwings doesn’t live in my state.
Agreed !
I don’t buy the argument that I have to drive like a maniac because others decide to do so. I am not the problem…speeders are. But then, we’re quickly becoming a lawless nation where entitled people feel they can do whatever they want.
Excessive speed is a killer. Worst of all these people rarely even slow down for construction zones, whipping past workers mere feet away at 20+ mph over the
construction zone limits. I saw rows of semis doing the same thing this year in a large construction zone near Indianapolis. Signs said there were speed cameras…I wonder how many tickets were actually issued.
Increasing the speed limit does not increase the capacity – not until all cars are automated with zero gap adaptive speed control. The maximum capacity of a highway comes at about 22 miles and hour, when the gap between cars is pretty low but they are still moving steadily. That’s why traffic slows down as there are more cars on the road, until the number exceeds capacity and delays and gridlock become common.
The company I worked for had a behind the wheel and classroom defensive driving course for those of us that drove over a certain miles per year. I still have the binder and review it from time to time. It has helped me several times especially at a 4-way traffic light when an idiot thinks that red is only a suggestion to stop (always look all ways even if your not the first person in line). I find it disconcerting when an RV passes me like I’m standing still on the highway (I’m usually 5-10 under the limit), sometimes I catch up to them at the next rest stop or fuel station, that just puts a smile on my face!
I don’t know where the authors got the 15% distracted drivers. I would say in my area it would be like 60%. Cellphone, cigarettes and coffee. Sometimes all three at the same time.
Interesting that only 1.3% (self-reporting) claim to drive while under the influence but 31% of all fatal accidents involve dui drivers. Hmmmm? Think the actual number is much, much higher? At least once each year I’ve reported suspected dui drivers to the state police while on my travels during broad daylight. The other is distracted driving (they’re texting while driving). The worst safety issues for me are those clueless drivers who are running at high speed, weaving in and out of traffic, then pull right in front of me and slam on their brakes while I’m hauling my 5th wheel. A couple times I was forced to lock up all my wheels to avoid hitting their rear end. I do run a recorded dash cam
Since this is a RV focused newsletter maybe all those owners who drive like they just stole their rigs coupled with zero use of signals; following/tailgating and zero courtesies toward other drivers may start to pay attention to their actions and less about others on the road. RV owners with weights greater than 26,000 pounds should have mandatory Class B licensing requirements nationwide.
The only thing wrong with these ‘statistics’ is that they are self-reported. Who in their right mind admits to drinking and driving? Or texting and driving? Back in my trucking days, I remember seeing a guy passing me and reading a book on his steering wheel. This was in the middle of Nevada, but still . . . So I guess I’m saying I put little stock in this report, though it is interesting,
I agree. Over 1/2 of the 41% probably lied.
Funny you mentioned the book on the steering wheel. While driving our motorhome just East of Columbus, OH on a jam packed I-70 with wall to wall semis doing 15+ mph over the limit, we saw a guy in a car with a newspaper spread over his steering wheel. What a dufus! One wrong move and one could be in a 100 vehicle pile up.
What worries me most recently is the “professional” driver behavior has gotten SO much worse. I told my wife they give CDLs to anyone nowadays. 🙁
Sad but true on the CDL comment. I’ve been retired from trucking for over 10 years now, and so glad I am. The old “Knights of the Highway” moniker no longer applies.
I hear you. My wife’s parents were OTR team drivers most of their working years. We have several other professional drivers on both sides of the family. When I see many of today’s young drivers fueling up while wearing “pajamas” and flip flops it certainly doesn’t take me back to the truckers of the 70’s!!! 🥴
Good research, good article. But what was left out was some of the rediculous speed limits that endanger all drivers. Forcing “towed” vehicles to travel 55 mph on rural California highways has caused more dangerous manuevers than I can count. At times, the 55 mph limit can make a freeway into a one lane road with people screaming at drivers (RV’s and trucks) who pass these slow moving vehicles and hold up long lines of traffic.
A possible contributing factor was many DMVs reissuing licenses during COVID without doing due diligence. My elderly mom wouldn’t have passed an eye test but got her license renewed through the phone. I’d bet that wasn’t isolated.
My DW and I recently renewed ours online.
We could bring down fuel consumption resulting in lower fuel prices due to the decrease in demand, eliminate thousands of highway fatalities and tens of thousands of injuries annually, and bring down insurance costs by billions simply by going back to a national 55 mile an hour speed limit. But we won’t.
All the talking heads and polyticians want us to lower our carbon footprint. Slowing down would most certainly help.
This has been disproven multiple times. Reducing the speed limit much below the highway design speed actually increases accidents, and may not save fuel. Vehicles are designed for maximum fuel economy at various speeds, the best speed is a function of engine characteristics and gearing. Reducing the speed limit increases travel time and fatigue and drivers are more likely to become distracted, plus greater differential between legal drivers and speeders.
I’d be interested in your sources, Bill.
So, why are there “fewer stops” by law enforcement? I see very few being pulled over on California highways, while speeds have climbed steadily to over 75 and higher in 65mph zones. I would like to see what the CHP has to comment on this subject!
I completely agree with you on the highway speeds and drivers. The surface streets around here are just as bad or even more so too.
Officer mentality today is do your eight and hit the gate. No confrontations, no internal affairs, no traffic court on your day off, no hearings conducted by your agency on use of force. Benefits, same pay, same retirement as the officer involved in all the turmoil.
So, do the eight and hit the gate!
I read your comments and you obviously are just spouting off at the mouth. I am a former police officer and I have to say tickets are VERY lucrative for officers. I would get my pay for working my 10 hours plus overtime. If I gave tickets I usually would be in court for those tickets. I would get paid for going to court. An officer can easily make $10k to 15k a year more for going to court.
So before you go spouting off at the mouth, know what you are talking about. I would venture to say that many of the worst driving states are where you have democrats running the states and have defunded the police.
Maybe you should try obeying the laws and see what kind of impact that has?
Before you say I am spouting off at the mouth you should know I spent 31 years as a law enforcement officer. I was a Captain and worked all departments in my agency. I was SWAT Commander and have many command decisions on barricaded to search warrants. I was also an Internal Affairs Investigator.
My comment if you took time to read it states the officer today reflecting on the opposition they face today in our liberal country. Having been in command, I have very little respect for agencies that do not support their officers.
You have a good day! Thank you for your service!
I often set my speed based on my more accurate GPS than on my car’s built-in speedometers. When the car’s own analog vs digital instrumentation differ by almost 3%, what does this say? That said, I rarely exceed the posted speed limits.
I also find today’s cars ride too smoothly to dependably drive on highways manually controlling my speed. I have to keep a very close eye on the speed instrumentation. While I enjoy the ride, cars from 20+ years ago gave me a better feel for my speed changes.
Finally, I was taught that a vehicle that is driven consistent with other vehicles in traffic is typically safer than one driven too fast or too slow. We share the road; we don’t own it.
Idiotic for AAA to suggest part of the problem is due to the pandemic, when there were “fewer people on the road”. What does that have to do with anything?…smh. Pre-pandemic was just as bad.
Emily,
How about a poll on this subject. Speeding tickets last year, last 5 years, last 10, last 20 type poll.
While not scientific as it relates to speeding because differences in annual miles driven, urban or rural living, etc., it would be interesting to see how our demo does with speeding tickets. RV or Toads or both combined.
I’m a speed of traffic kind if driver, minus a couple of mph in the coach. I don’t want to be the guy that fast traffic swerved around and then wrecked either.
Thank you, Russ and Tina. As far as the speeding goes, I see that everywhere, whether around home in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, or visiting our old neighborhood in the Virginia part of the metro DC area. I choose to drive 2 or 3, sometimes 5, mph over the posted speed limit to lessen the impact should someone come upon me quickly and be unable to change lanes in time to avoid hitting me. Aggressive driving is pretty much the norm in and around DC. Thankfully, I don’t see as much in Chattanooga, but neither do I drive as much; we worked/commuted there and are retired here. 🙂
I’d say the amount of distracted or aggressive driving, offenders are most prevalent on the roads post-pandemic. This driver often takes their right of way from fellow drivers.
Case in point, driving our RV to my son’s baseball tournament this morning, a driver exiting the freeway pushed his way into my lane. Causing me to quickly change lanes. Sadly, that driver was also going to the tournament.
Just yesterday, on the way to town, I had entered the highway and had accelerated almost to the legal speed limit when a driver roared around me on the shoulder and honked his horn at me. In just a few seconds it would have been safe for him to pass me on the left!
Interesting numbers – even if they are self reported which makes them extremely suspect and not anywhere near accurate. I find in ND/MN one of the biggest problems is people do not know how to enter an interstate hiway! Some are entering at 15-30 mph below the speed limit and then take their dear time to accelerate. Also, there is no mention of tail gating which again, in this area is rarely enforced and extremely dangerous, especially on ice or snow packed roads/streets. It also leads to aggressive driving! People who think driving the speed limit is the problem – are the problem!!! What’s your big hurry? Get home from work and read the paper or watch Tv?
…the tailgaters and speeders are the aggressive drivers causing the problems!
I*iot drivers now were i*iot drivers before the pandemic as well!
They certainly did not use their isolation time to learn how to become better and smarter drivers.
Define speeding! What some consider speeding others may call self preservation. We’ve been RVing over 50 years and have always ran 2-4 MPH over the speed limit. We’ve had people fly past us going 15+ MPH faster than us. I find if I leave adequate space between me and the vehicle ahead of me, someone will speed past me then jump in front of me. That’s why every vehicle we own has a dash cam.
Problem is in Pa, there is not enough cops too monitor and catch speeders. Than when an accident occurs they tie up the road for hours. Get the accident victims out of the car and use a payloader to move the smashed up cars to the side of the road and get traffic moving. Let the insurance companies fight it out.
You don’t have a right to drive, it is a privilege given one by government. Part of the government’s job to protect society.
Disrespect of speed limits and traffic laws is just a further reflection of today’s “me now and everyone else be damned” society.