Page 30 - The Magazine of AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2020

What’s Behind Bad Driving Behaviors?
By Kimberly Schwind
We’ve all been there. We are driving along, minding our own business, when we spot someone texting on their phone, whizzing past us at a high rate of speed or swerving from side to side. Most of us recognize these behaviors as unsafe and threats to our safety.
In fact, the AAA Foundation for Traffic
Safety finds most drivers view typing into
a mobile device while driving (96.2%),
drinking and driving (94%) and speeding
on the freeway (55.1%) as dangerous
behaviors. Yet, the AAA Foundation also
finds many of these same drivers admit to engaging in these behaviors behind the wheel in the past 30 days.
Even more startling, drivers who have been in at least one crash during the past two years are significantly more likely to engage in these risky behaviors, indicating drivers are not altering their behavior, even when it’s resulted in a crash.
This “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality is nothing new. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has been tracking this attitude in its annual Traffic Safety Culture Index for years. The question is, why? Why do we engage in risky behaviors, like using a mobile phone while driving, when we know they are dangerous?
“The why is what I care a lot about,” said Brittany Shoots-Reinhard, research assistant professor at
The Ohio State University Department of Psychology. Shoots-Reinhard is no stranger to the impact of car crashes. Three out of the 80 students in her high school graduating class have died in crashes.
“It should not be the case that every person knows somebody that’s died in a car crash,” said Shoots- Reinhard. “From the data that we have from NHTSA and other sources, about 95% of those crashes are preventable.”
Shoots-Reinhard has a Ph.D. in psychology from
The Ohio State University with a specialization in social psychology. Her graduate studies focused on decision making and attitudes over persuasion. She also has completed research on communication, especially
numeric risk communication and decision making. Based on her experience, Shoots-Reinhard provides insight into what’s behind driver behavior, particularly distracted driving.
“There’s not one reason why people drive distracted when they know they really shouldn’t,” said Shoots- Reinhard. “One of the key drivers of this hypocrisy is that people think of other people when considering support for stricter laws or rating how dangerous behaviors are, and that other people are unsafe when they’re distracted.”
It’s always the other driver we need to look out for, right? That’s what many of us heard when we were learning to drive. Perhaps that’s one lesson that stuck.
Shoots-Reinhard cites other psychological predictors that may lead people to drive distracted, including the beliefs that:
“It’s not that risky.”
“The risks are overblown; messaging is
manipulative.”
“I’m better at using my phone and driving
than others.”
“I need my phone.”
“Other people are doing it.”
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety finds young adult drivers, ages 19-39, are the most likely to use a mobile phone to talk or text while driving. Shoots-Reinhard agrees. “Younger drivers are the most distracted, because they
28 | AAA MAGAZINE
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