If you are a driver between the ages of 19 to 59, chances are you have either drove faster than the speed limit, ran a red light or have sent or read a text message on their phone while driving during the past 30-days. The findings are part of a report from the Triple-A Foundation for Traffic Safety. Gene LaDoucer is a spokesman for Triple-A North Dakota…
"...We're starting to treat our vehicles as if they were autonomous vehicles when they're not to that point yet. We think (that) we get behind the wheel of an automobile the automobile is going to keep us safe and prevent us from crashing, but that is obviously not the case based on the statistics we are starting to see."
LaDoucer says 3-out-of-4 drivers in the 40-59 years old category admit they have done at least one of the three activities within the past 30 days. He says the rate of incident increases as you deal with younger drivers. For those 19 to 24 the number increases to 88-percent. He says nationally the rate of distracted driving has resulted in a 7-percent increase in fatal accidents over the past year…
"...Fortunately in North Dakota we have seen crashes coming down over the last few years. We saw a peak about three years ago and the last couple years we have seen a positive decline in crashes. Some things we are noticing is increases in distracted driving crashes and still, unfortunately, too many people are not wearing their seatbelts."
LaDoucer says while young Millenials are the worst offenders; drivers of all ages need to step up and accept responsibility in their driving habits.