Risky Business
Study shows young millennial drivers take most chances
AAA
If you spot young drivers texting, speeding or running red lights, don’t be surprised. A new AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study found that 88 percent of millennials ages 19-24 engaged in at least one of these risky behaviors behind the wheel within a 30-day stretch.
The percentage of drivers who said they texted, sped or ran red lights was lower for other age groups. For those ages 25-39, 79.2 percent reported doing so, as did 75.2 percent of drivers ages 40-59. Among those in the youngest group, ages 16-18, 69.3 percent engaged in these risky driving behaviors, as did 69.1 percent of those 75 and older. Those reporting the lowest percentage, 67.3, were from the 60-74 age group.
The findings follow news that traffic deaths on U.S. roads rose by more than seven percent in 2015, to 35,092. That’s the largest single-year increase in five decades.
“Alarmingly, some of the drivers ages 19-24 in this study believe that their dangerous driving behavior is acceptable,” said Dr. David Yang, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety executive director. “It’s critical that these drivers understand the potentially deadly consequences of engaging in these types of behavior and that they change their behavior in order to keep all drivers safer on the roads.”
Other study findings show that:
- Compared with their older counterparts, drivers ages 19-24 were 1.6 times more likely to report having read a text message or email while driving and nearly twice as likely to say they keyed or sent a text or email.
- Young millennials were 1.4 times more likely to drive 10 mph over the speed limit on a residential street, and one in nine felt it was acceptable to driver 10 mph over the speed limit in a school zone – compared with one in 20 for all other age groups combined.
- Nearly 50 percent of drivers ages 19-24 said they drove through a light that had just turned red, compared with 36 percent from all other age groups. And more than one in eight felt this was acceptable driving behavior, compared with one in 20 among all drivers.
