Beyond the Byline: Behave when behind the wheel

This sure is a sometimes crazy world we are living in and every day seems to bring new challenges.

One issue that just seems to never go away is bad behavior while driving.

Think about that — people getting behind the wheel of a large vehicle and instead of enjoying their time driving to work, or just heading to some fun activity, they choose to act inappropriately, endangering themselves and other drivers.

My friends at AAA Mid-Atlantic have released another informative report: “Bad behavior: Drivers know it’s wrong, but many do it anyway.”

AAA’s latest research shows crash-involved drivers admit to risky driving behaviors.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s report 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 while driving, even when they think the police may catch them.

After three months of staying at home, AAA urges drivers to keep everyone safe on the roads and warns motorists against falling back into dangerous driving habits.

“The frequency of drivers in the United States engaging in improper behavior is too high,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “While drivers acknowledge that 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 behaviors and change course.”

The Foundation’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index (TSCI), which highlights the gap between drivers’ attitudes and their reported behaviors, found that drivers perceive distracted, aggressive and impaired driving as dangerous. Yet many of them admit to engaging in at least one of these exact behaviors.

The numbers were even higher for those involved in a recent crash:

• 50% of those involved in a recent crash admit to talking on a hand-held device while driving in the past month vs. 42% not involved in a crash.

• 43% of those involved in a recent crash admit to texting while driving in the past month vs. 27% not involved in a crash.

• 39% of those involved in a recent crash admit to running a red light in the past month vs. 30% not involved in a crash.

This data shows that people are not altering their behavior even when it has resulted in a crash.

Of all dangerous driving tasks, drivers dubbed these two extremely or very dangerous:

• Driving when so tired, it was hard to keep your eyes open (96%).

• Driving while typing or sending a text message or an email (96%).

Yet these same drivers text when behind the wheel, even believing there is a risk of getting caught by police for reading (43.7%) or typing (42.7%) a text message.

Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said this:

“The new AAA Foundation report shows drivers know that being distracted, tired, aggressive, or impaired is dangerous while behind the wheel, but up to 63% admit they’ve done it in the past 30 days.”

What?

Tidwell added: “Repeated AAA surveys highlight the discordance between perceived danger and self-reported behaviors. Drivers need to slow down, stay alert, put the phone down, drive sober, and wear their seat belts, so that we can all make it to our destinations safely.”

A few years ago Eileen Miller stood before hundreds of students at the Greater Nanticoke High School and bravely and emotionally told the story of how her life was forever changed on July 5, 2010, when her son, Paul Jr., was killed in a crash caused by a distracted driver.

It was a strong message — a message Mrs. Miller has delivered to thousands of students across Pennsylvania and the U.S. The pictures were graphic, the statistics were frightening and the words were sobering.

It’s a message that must be received and followed — don’t text and drive.

Her son was driving his vehicle on Route 33 in Hamilton Township, when a southbound tractor-trailer crossed the center grass divider and traveled head-on into his car. At the time of the crash, the tractor trailer was being operated by a distracted driver — the man would later say he was reaching for his cell phone.

Paul died from the injuries he suffered as a result of the crash — he was 21.

Paul’s mother’s message must get through to everyone.