National Survey of Speeding and Other Unsafe Driving Actions. Volume 2, Driver Attitudes and Behavior

Boyle, John M., 1947-; Dienstfrey, Stephen J.; Sothoron, Alyson. · 1998 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This report presents the findings of the National Survey of Speeding and Other Unsafe Driving Actions, commissioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to address a critical information gap regarding driver attitudes and behaviors. Speeding contributes to nearly one-third of all fatal motor vehicle crashes, costing an estimated $28.8 billion in 1996. Despite this, limited data existed on the specific circumstances, driver characteristics, and public attitudes associated with speeding and aggressive driving behaviors such as tailgating, weaving, and running red lights. The study aimed to identify targets for safety interventions and refine countermeasures by analyzing driver demographics, perceptions of risk, enforcement experiences, and crash history. The research was conducted by Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas, Inc., between February and April 1997. Researchers utilized computer-assisted telephone interviewing to conduct 6,000 interviews with a nationally representative sample of drivers aged 16 and older. To manage the extensive scope of questions within a 30-minute interview window, the survey employed two questionnaire versions—one focusing on speeding and the other on general unsafe driving—along with split-half sampling techniques. This design created four independent national samples, allowing for robust statistical analysis of specific behaviors while maintaining a total sample size of 6,000 for core metrics. The findings reveal that the majority of drivers perceive unsafe driving as a significant threat to personal safety, with 61% citing speeding by others as a major risk. However, self-reported data indicates widespread engagement in unsafe behaviors; for instance, 23% of drivers admitted to exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph on interstates within the past week. Gender and age were identified as primary predictors of unsafe driving. Male drivers exhibited nearly 40% higher unsafe driving scores than females, and unsafe driving behaviors declined continuously as drivers aged. Younger drivers (16–30) consistently rated unsafe behaviors as less dangerous than older drivers did. Regarding enforcement, while 14% of drivers reported being stopped by police in the past year, the majority of high-risk drivers (62% of those with the highest unsafe driving scores) were never stopped. Public opinion indicated satisfaction with enforcement for speeding and signal violations but a perceived lack of enforcement for tailgating and weaving. The study concludes that unsafe driving is a pervasive issue driven by demographic factors, particularly youth and gender, and a disconnect between perceived and actual risk among younger drivers. The data highlights a significant enforcement gap, where the most frequent offenders rarely face police intervention. These findings provide NHTSA with empirical evidence to target specific driver populations and road types, supporting the development of more effective educational campaigns and enforcement strategies to reduce fatalities and injuries associated with speeding and aggressive driving.

Key finding

Men and younger drivers exhibit significantly higher frequencies of unsafe driving behaviors and rate those actions as less dangerous compared to women and older drivers.

Methodology

survey

Sample size: 6000

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified_with_issues.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• sex gender
• cultural cross national
• incidence prevalence
• speed choice
• urban rural setting
• rail grade crossings

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, behavioral performance data
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource