AAA says we’re surrounded by hypocrites on the road

Are you a good driver?  Could your driving habits cause a serious car accident?  According to studies at the Automobile Association of America (AAA) Foundation for Traffic Safety, 3 out of 4 drivers think they are a better driver than others on the road.  In addition, 78 percent of drivers stated that aggressive drivers were a serious or extremely serious traffic safety problem.

If we believe these numbers, it means the vast majority of drivers on the road are careful, good drivers yet these good drivers are seriously concerned with the smaller number of aggressive drivers.  So, either the good drivers are worrying too much or they aren’t as good as they think they are.

The AAA Foundation believes the latter is true.  It seems that American drivers practice a little roadway hypocrisy.  For all our supposed concern about safe driving practices, AAA found that:

• 58 percent of drivers admit to speeding up to beat a yellow light
• Nearly 50 percent of drivers exceeded the speed limit by 15mpt in the past 30 days
• 41 percent of drivers have honked at other drivers
• 26 percent have pressured other drivers to speed up
• 22 percent admit to tailgating
• 6 percent of drivers have deliberately run red lights

It looks like we are our own worst enemies.  While many people think they are good drivers, the statistics point out that we may be kidding ourselves.  If you’ve been in a serious car or truck accident, you may agree – was the driver who hit you in denial about his or her role in causing the accident?  It seems that many people just don’t want to accept that they have a lot to learn on the road.

You can read more about aggressive driving in our law library article “Aggressive driving is major cause of car and truck accidents”.