The aggressive driving situation on our roads is not
getting any better. The Nerves of Steel Aggressive Driving Study,
commissioned by TheSteelAlliance and Canada Safety Council, found that 88% of
us admit to aggressive driving in the past year. That's up from 84% in the
first Nerves of Steel study, four years ago. Speeding and running
traffic lights remain the most common aggressive behaviours.
Stress, not surprisingly, is the main reason given
for aggressive driving. Demanding schedules could explain why 76% of Canadian
drivers surveyed say sleep-deprived drivers are a common problem on Canadian
roads. It seems many Canadians are also driving while drowsy themselves: over
half of drivers surveyed admit they have driven while tired over the past year
and almost 60% highlighted afternoon and evening as the time they feel most
drowsy while driving.
Concerns about fatigue have focused on truck
drivers. The Road Safety Monitor, an annual public opinion survey of
the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, found that 70% of Canadians believe
truck drivers who are tired by long hours of driving are a serious problem.
(The Canada Safety Council is also a sponsor of that survey.) However, the
questions asked only about truck drivers. Nerves of Steel respondents
identify fatigue as a more general traffic safety concern.
Today's pace of life not only fuels aggressive
driving and drowsy driving, it also leads drivers to multi-task while in the
car. Three-quarters of Nerves of Steel respondents admit to having
multi-tasked while driving. Tasks include eating, reading, using a cell phone
or even shaving. In turn, 87% of respondents are frustrated when they see
other drivers multi-tasking behind the wheel - an 11% increase from last year.
Running traffic lights is both illegal and
dangerous. It is also the most common act of aggressive driving. Yet when
asked what they thought causes the most collisions, fewer than one percent
suggested running red lights. (Driver inattention, speeding and impaired
driving were named most often.)
Canada's traffic fatality rate has dropped over the
past thirty years to an all-time low. Our road safety record is second to none
in the world when distance is taken into account. The national goal is to
reduce the number of motor vehicle deaths (which stood at 2,917 in 2000) to
fewer than 2,100 by the year 2010.
Nerves of Steel reveals where we need to
improve. Too many Canadians seem to take the driving task for granted. They
break fundamental rules of the road, and try to fit more and more into a day
even if it jeopardizes their safety. These behaviors are rooted in attitudes
which must be addressed in order to achieve further reductions in traffic
deaths and injuries.
