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Study: Americans who consider drunk driving ‘a serious threat’ declines 21% in 3 years

Filed under: Safety

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Alternate titles for this story could have been “American drivers growing stupider,” “Number of boneheads on the road increases,” “Natural selection having greater influence on American drivers.” We don’t mean to make light of the latest study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, but it’s so darn disturbing that we aren’t really sure what else to do.

AAA compiled the results of three years of surveys, and found that Americans aren’t nearly as concerned about seriously bad behaviors while driving as they were a few years ago. It’s no wonder there was an estimated 5.3-percent increase in annual traffic fatalities last year. The infuriating thing is that we’ve gone seven years without an increase in fatalities.

In 2009, 90 percent of the AAA survey respondents thought drunk driving was a “serious threat.” 71 percent were opposed to drowsy driving. 87 percent considered working a smartphone while behind the wheel to be a bad thing, while 21 percent admitted to texting while driving. 77 percent took issue with people that ran red lights.

Fast-forward to 2012, and we’re going to see a rather radical shift in feelings. Only 69 percent of people find drinking and driving to be an issue, while 46 percent are opposed to drowsy driving. 81 percent think a smartphone and driving don’t mix, while 26 percent have texted while behind the wheel. Also baffling, 70 percent of people are against running red lights, with over a third admitting to flying through a red in the past month. For those that don’t feel like looking at the paragraph above for comparison, fewer people are concerned with bad behind-the-wheel behaviors.

Take a look below for the full press release on the AAA study, and please, please be safe behind the wheel.

Continue reading Americans who consider drunk driving ‘a serious threat’ declines 21% in 3 years

Americans who consider drunk driving ‘a serious threat’ declines 21% in 3 years originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Would-be car thief foiled by drunk driver ignition interlock

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Technology

A drunk driver prevented the theft of a TJ Maxx in Farmington, CT on Wednesday. Okay, not exactly. The drunk driver’s car prevented the theft. According to The Hartford Courant, three men swiped $4,500 worth of ladies handbags from the department store, but didn’t get very far. Store security noticed the heist and alerted authorities, who were waiting for the pilferers outside the store.

One man, Levar Fulgham, saw the police and booked it, hopping in a nearby idling car. The only problem, though, was the ignition interlock that was installed. The interlock, which prevented the car from being shifted into gear without first blowing into a breathalizer, was installed because the car’s owner had a few too many and got busted driving drunk (shame he didn’t have a good friend to try and take his keys).

After revving the engine and realizing he couldn’t get it into drive, Fulgham abandoned the car and continued his flight on foot. Police were forced to tase the thief before they could apprehend him. Fulgham was charged with third-, fourth- and sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fourth- and sixth-degree larceny, refusal to be fingerprinted and interfering with police.

Would-be car thief foiled by drunk driver ignition interlock originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Aug 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Over 13% of motorists drove drunk last year; Wisconsin, North Dakota worst

The holiday season is in full swing, and that means holiday parties are in no short supply, filled with people wearing horrible sweaters. It also means booze is readily available, and the opportunity to drive after having too much to drink is at fever pitch. According to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 30 million folks will drive drunk in an average year while another 10 million get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs. Approximately 13.2 percent of Americans over the age of 16 drove under the influence of alcohol this past year, and in some states, the amount of drunk drivers in the past year is well into the 20-percent range. A bit higher numbers than the eight percent of people who actually admit to boozing before turning the ignition key.

f you hit the road in Wisconsin, keep a sharp eye on the cars around you because 23.7 percent of drivers drove drunk this year. The same can be said for North Dakota where 22.4 percent of the driving population should have taken a cab. Rhode Island and Vermont are high on the list of states that prefer drugs to alcohol with 7.8 and 6.6 percent of drivers impaired by illicit drugs, respectively.

On the other end of the scale sit states like Utah and Mississippi that see just 7.4 and 8.7 percent of alcohol-impaired folks getting behind the wheel. New Jersey and Iowa, at 2.9 and 3.2 percent respectively, have the lowest rate of drivers operating an automobile while under the influence of drugs. It’s not all bad news however because the nationwide figure of 13.2 percent has declined from 14.6 percent of people driving while drunk. The number of folks driving while on drugs has also fallen with a previous average of 4.8 percent to this past years nationwide average of 4.3 percent.

[Source: SAMHSA | Image: Corbis]

Continue reading Study: Over 13% of motorists drove drunk last year; Wisconsin, North Dakota worst

Study: Over 13% of motorists drove drunk last year; Wisconsin, North Dakota worst originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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