NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new
ValuePenguin.com survey found almost all drivers, 90%, admitted to
dangerous driving behaviors within the past year. And while some of
these behaviors — such as eating, talking on the phone or changing
the music — may seem harmless — 94% of car crashes are caused by
human error and dangerous driving behaviors.
More worryingly, many drivers who engage in dangerous driving
activities do so without legal ramifications — more than one-third
of licensed drivers said they have never been pulled over for a
traffic violation, despite engaging in dangerous driving
behaviors.
Key Findings
- Cell Phone Use Is The Biggest Danger On The Roads: As a
group, cell phone use accounts for a large portion of dangerous
behaviors that drivers admitted to committing: 58%, 27% and 24% of
drivers reported talking on the phone, reading texts and sending
texts, respectively. This is all in spite of the fact that 20
states along with the District of
Columbia have issued bans on handheld cellphone use, with
more states following suit.
- Other Dangerous Driving Behaviors: While cell phone use
collectively accounted for the most common dangerous driving
behaviors, eating while driving (67%), changing the music while
driving (55%) and speeding (41%) made up the other most common
dangerous driving behaviors identified in the survey.
- What Drivers See As The Most Dangerous Thing To Do While
Driving: More survey respondents said that sending a text is
the most dangerous thing to do while driving than those who listed
drinking and driving. However, this is contradictory to driver
behavior: six times as many drivers reported sending a text while
driving as those who reported drinking and driving — 24% compared
to 4%.
- Men Get More Tickets Than Women: Male drivers are more
likely to get tickets for traffic violations than their female
counterparts, with 94% of men reporting having been pulled over at
least once compared to 89% of women. Men were also more likely to
have received multiple tickets — 65% of men reported having
received two or more tickets compared to 46% of women. This history
of dangerous driving likely contributes to the high insurance
costs, especially for young male drivers who pay 23% more for auto
insurance coverage than young women.
- Which Part of the Country Has the Most Dangerous
Drivers? The drivers in the Northeast took the top spot,
indulging in an average of eight dangerous driving behaviors over
the past year, followed by the Midwest with six, the West with five
and the South with two. Interestingly, Southerners are most likely
to have been pulled over for a traffic violation (67%), while
residents of the Northeast and West are least likely (60%).
To determine the most common driving fails, ValuePenguin.com
commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 1,033
Americans with a valid driver's license, with the sample base
proportioned to represent the general population of drivers across
the country. The survey was conducted in May
2019.
To view the full report, visit:
https://www.valuepenguin.com/auto-insurance/driving-fails
About ValuePenguin.com: ValuePenguin.com, part of
LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), is a personal finance website that
conducts in-depth research and provides objective analysis to help
guide consumers to the best financial decisions. ValuePenguin
focuses on value, assessing whether the return of a particular
decision is worth the cost or risk of that option, and how this
stacks up with the other possible choices they may have. For more
information, please visit www.valuepenguin.com, like our Facebook
page or follow us on Twitter @ValuePenguin.
Contact: press@valuepenguin.com
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SOURCE ValuePenguin.com