The Texas. Traffic Safety Culture. Survey. Center for Transportation Safety

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Texas. Traffic Safety Culture. Survey. Center for Transportation Safety"

Johnathan Robbins
6 years ago
Views:

1 The Texas Traffic Safety Culture Survey Center for Transportation Safety November 2010

2 Summary For decades, traffic safety improvements have relied primarily upon engineering and enforcement solutions. A growing number of safety professionals and policy makers have concluded that if we are limited to those options in the future, further improvements will be incremental at best. Truly meaningful advancements in safety will depend largely on changing the way we think about driving changing our traffic safety culture. To provide a baseline for future measurements toward such change, the Center for Transportation Safety at the Texas Transportation Institute conducted a survey to determine Texas drivers attitudes toward safety conditions and laws. A brief sample of findings shows that: Although roadway deaths have steadily declined in recent years, more than a third of Texas drivers think the roadways are less safe than they were five years ago. Only about one out of five feel safer. More than four out of five respondents believe that texting while driving (85 percent) and cell phone use (81 percent) have become bigger problems than they were five years ago. Well over half say aggressive driving is worse, and nearly half say the same thing about driver courtesy. Texans generally feel safer on the roads than drivers nationwide, as measured in the 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In that survey, 52 percent of drivers nationwide said they feel less safe, while the number in Texas is 34 percent. Supporters of a law to ban cell phone use while driving outnumber opponents by a two-to-one margin. Supporters of red light cameras outnumber opponents by 48 percent to 36 percent. Supporters also outnumber opponents on measures to deter impaired driving, favoring sobriety checkpoints, and requiring the use of ignition interlock devices for drivers with DWI convictions. Survey participants were generally opposed to raising the state s gasoline tax to pay for new roads or to make the roads safer. The Texas Traffic Safety Culture Survey was conducted at ten driver license stations operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety in the following cities in September and October Austin Amarillo Beaumont Bryan Dallas El Paso Houston Lubbock McAllen San Angelo Results from the sample of 1,167 licensed drivers represent a cross-section of the opinions of the adult driving population in Texas. CTS researchers plan to repeat the survey each year and publish its findings as part of the Center s Legislative direction to foster public awareness of the importance of roadway safety to the economy of this state. 2

3 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 60% 50% 40% 30% Overall,doyouthinkdrivingfeelssafer,lesssafe,orabout thesameasitdid5yearsago? 19% 35% 39% 7% Safer LessSafe AbouttheSame NotSure Overall,doyouthinkvehiclessoldintheU.S.aresaferorless safethantheywere5yearsago? 54% 26% 20% 10% 14% 6% 3 0% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Safer LessSafe AbouttheSame NotSure Overall,doyouthinkthecondi>onofroadsyoutravelon mostisbe?erorworsethan5yearsago? 39% 21% 36% 4% Be<er Worse AbouttheSame NotSure

4 70% 60% 50% Inyourarea,istheremoreorlessroadconstruc>onthan5 yearsago? 60% 40% 30% 20% 10% 14% 20% 6% 4 0% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% More Less AbouttheSame NotSure Ingeneral,aretheareasunderconstruc>onsaferorlesssafe than5yearsago? 31% 19% 40% 9% Safer LessSafe AbouttheSame NotSure Inyourarea,doyouthinktrafficconges>onhasgo?enbe?er orworsethan5yearsago? 14% 57% 25% 5% Be<er Worse AbouttheSame NotSure

5 5 11% 14% 25% 49% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Greater Less AbouttheSame NotSure Doyouthinkthepercentoftraffic>cketsdismissedbya judgeorcourtinyourareaisgreaterorlessthan5yearsago? 45% 11% 23% 21% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Greater Enforcement LessEnforcement AbouttheSame NotSure Overall,doyouthinkenforcementbyusingcamerasinyour areaisgreaterorlessthan5yearsago? 43% 9% 38% 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Greater Enforcement LessEnforcement AbouttheSame NotSure Overall,doyouthinkenforcementoftrafficviola>onsinyour areaisgreaterorlessthan5yearsago?

6 6 15% 36% 34% 2% 13% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure DoyouthinktheDWI/DUIproblemisbe?erorworseinyour areathan5yearsago? 8% 60% 28% 1% 2% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinktheaggressivedrivingproblemisbe?eror worseinyourareathan5yearsago? 5% 81% 11% 1% 1% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinktheproblemofcellphoneusewhiledrivingis be?erorworseinyourareathan5yearsago?

7 7 12% 42% 41% 2% 2% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkspeedingisbe?erorworseinyourareathan5 yearsago? 49% 13% 30% 2% 6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkseatbeltuseisbe?erorworseinyourareathan 5yearsago? 18% 25% 43% 3% 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkteendriversarebe?erorworseinyourarea than5yearsago?

8 8 10% 30% 45% 4% 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkelderlydriversarebe?erorworseinyourarea than5yearsago? 4% 85% 8% 1% 2% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinktex>ngwhiledrivingisbe?erorworseinyour areathan5yearsago? 19% 30% 41% 2% 7% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkrunningredlightsisbe?erorworseinyourarea than5yearsago?

9 9 31% 19% 30% 3% 17% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinktheproblemofchildrennotridingincarseatsis be?erorworseinyourareathan5yearsago? 19% 41% 34% 2% 3% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkdrivercourtesyisbe?erorworseinyourarea than5yearsago? 20% 24% 48% 4% 3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Be<er Worse Aboutthe same Donot considera problem Notsure Doyouthinkproblemswithgivingtheright of wayarebe?er orworseinyourareathan5yearsago?

10 10 12% 21% 15% 47% 5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyourideabicyclefor transporta>on? 19% 26% 19% 32% 4% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyouwalkfor transporta>on? 8% 10% 12% 61% 9% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyourideamotorcycle fortransporta>on?

11 11 26% 12% 36% 16% 10% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyoudriveslowerto saveonfuel? 31% 8% 22% 25% 13% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyoushopon lineto savetransporta>oncosts? 19% 3% 18% 19% 42% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% MoreOJen LessOJen Aboutthe same Havenotdone in5years Notsure Comparedto5yearsago,howoJendoyoudootherfuelsavingmeasures?

12 12 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Areyouinfavoroforopposedtoadding10centspergallon taxongasolinetopayfornewroadconstruc>on? 5% 8% 20% 33% 34% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopp0sedtoadding10centspergallon taxongasolinetopayforrepairingdangerousroads? 7% 15% 23% 25% 30% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopposedtousingcamerasto>cket driversonfreeways? 8% 14% 20% 28% 29% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose

13 13 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Areyouinfavoroforopposedtousingcamerasto>cket driversonresiden>alstreets? 10% 19% 19% 25% 26% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopposedtousingcamerasto>cket driverswhorunredlights? 19% 29% 16% 16% 20% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopposedtoraisingtheminimumagefor genngadriverlicenseto18? 22% 19% 27% 18% 15% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose

14 14 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Areyouinfavoroforopposedtoalawagainstanytypeof cellphoneusewhiledriving? 30% 22% 21% 17% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopposedtosobrietycheckpoints? 19% 24% 25% 14% 9% 18% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose Areyouinfavoroforopposedtorequiringalldrivers convictedofdwitouseadevicetokeeptheircarfrom star>ngiftheyhavebeendrinking? 38% 23% 21% 9% 8% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose

15 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Areyouinfavoroforopposedtorequiringallmotorcyclists towearhelmets? 46% 23% 19% 6% 5% StronglyFavor Favor Neutral Oppose Strongly Oppose AgeofSurveyRespondents Over65 Race/EthnicityofSurveyRespondents 3%3% White Black 34% 46% Hispanic Asian Other 14% 15

16 GenderofSurveyRespondents 48% 52% Male Female WhattypeofvehicledoyoudrivemostoJen? 3% 2% 3% 2% 3% 21% 19% 47% None PassengerCar Pickup SUV Van Motorcycle Other MulWple 16

15,790. Bryan Waco Region. Do you own or lease a personal vehicle? What is your primary means of transportation?

15,790. Bryan Waco Region. Do you own or lease a personal vehicle? What is your primary means of transportation? Bryan Waco Region 1 Houston 2 Dallas 3 Fort Worth 4 San Antonio 5 Austin 6 Laredo Pharr 7 Corpus Christi Yoakum 8 Bryan Waco 9 Atlanta Beaumont Lufkin Paris Tyler 10 Amarillo Childress Lubbock Wichita