Study Shows Millennials Are the Worst Drivers, Like You Didn't Know
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (a research arm of AAA) released a report yesterday detailing their findings on hazardous driving behaviors across different age groups.
Unsurprisingly, Millennials fared about as well as they might if they stepped on your lawn.
Surveyed were 2,511 licensed drivers aged 16 and over who reported driving within the last 30 days. In particular, the survey asked about three hazardous driving behaviors that are just-so-Millennial: texting while driving (everyone’s favorite), running red lights, and speeding.
The survey divided drivers into six age groups, and tabulated results from there. Here are those results in descending order, with survey respondents who said they had participated in at least one of the three hazardous behaviors in the past month.
Drivers in the 19-24 age group were 1.6 times more likely than all drivers to read a text message or email when driving, and almost twice as likely to type or send a text or email while driving.
On speeding, those in the young Millennial group (age 19-24) were 1.4 times more likely to report driving 10 miles-per-hour over the speed limit on a residential street. And nearly 12 percent of Millennial drivers felt it was acceptable to drive over 10 miles-per-hour over the speed limit in a school zone. Less than 5 percent of all drivers felt the same way.
Running red lights was a favorite for drivers aged 19-24, as nearly 50 percent said they drove through a red light which had just turned red (though they were able to stop safely). Of all drivers combined, 36 percent reported positively when asked about this infraction.
Millennials seem to have a special attraction to these dangerous driving behaviors, more so than even teen drivers, or those in the oldest age bracket. Dr. David Yang, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety executive director, stated, “Alarmingly, some of the drivers ages 19-24 believe that their dangerous driving behavior is acceptable.”
Now, to be honest, who among us drove the same way at age 19 as they did at age 30 or 40? With more bills and responsibility comes a greater fear of a law enforcement officer with ticket in hand, not to mention insurance companies. Youthful invincibility is a fleeting sensation.
Unfortunately, this survey comes on the heels of published U.S. traffic death statistics for 2015, where the figure was 35,092 deaths for the year — an increase of over 7 percent, and the largest single-year increase in the last 50 years.
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Comments
Join the conversation
Sorting drivers by age makes no sense. It's more WHERE you're driving than WHO is driving around you. Travel up the Eastern seaboard. You'll find a pretty steady rise in collective driver speed and aggression as you drive up NC, VA, DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, and finally, Boston. Congestion, infrastructure, geography and regional culture all play larger roles in the hazardousness of drivers than age.
Millennials lack critical thinking skills, can't write, have poor social skills, and are often too immature for leadership positions. I hear this all the time from executives. To learn they're also lousy drivers is not surprising.