Vazquez: Research shows drivers know it’s wrong, do it anyway

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s latest research finds drivers who have been in at least one crash in the past two years are significantly more likely to engage in risky behaviors like speeding or texting, even when they think the police may catch them. After months of staying at home, we at AAA urge drivers to keep everyone safe on the roads and warn motorists against falling back into dangerous driving habits.

The frequency of drivers in the United States engaging in improper behavior is too high. While drivers acknowledge certain activities behind the wheel like texting, are dangerous, some do them anyway, We need to be aware of the serious consequences of engaging in these types of dangerous driving behavior and change course.

The Foundation’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index, which highlights the gap between drivers’ attitudes and their reported behaviors, found drivers perceive distracted, aggressive and impaired driving as dangerous. Yet many of them admitted to engaging in at least one of these exact behaviors in the 30 days before the survey. The numbers were even higher for those involved in a recent crash: