BELLEVUE, Wash. — A year after the state's E-DUI law went into effect, a survey and study of local drivers by AAA of Washington showed, with a few exceptions, that the group of drivers most likely to disregard the law is “parents with children living at home.”
Of the 1,160 Washington drivers surveyed, the most common illegal task drivers continue to do is setting up driving directions on a cellphone app or vehicle navigation system while driving.
“Of all the drivers surveyed by AAA, 82 percent say they have done this at least once in the past 30 days. For parents with children living at home, the number grows to 87 percent,” AAA Washington said.
That difference was also seen in the top five most common illegal driving distractions.
| All drivers | Parents with kids at home | |
| Set navigation while driving | 82% | 87% |
Read a text message, hand-held |
68% | 74% |
Answer a call, hand-held |
60% | 68% |
Sent text messages, hand-held |
58% | 68% |
Made a call, hand-held |
52% | 66% |
Of the drivers who said they still do these illegal behaviors on a DAILY basis, teens did them less often than "parents with children living at home:"
| Teens | Parents with kids at home | |
Set navigation while driving |
19% | 21% |
Read a text message, hand-held |
19% | 22% |
Answer a call, hand-held |
10% | 22% |
Sent text messages, hand-held |
19% | 22% |
Made a call, hand-held |
5% | 13% |
AAA said the results of the survey sparked a new campaign to reduce deaths and injuries caused by drivers distracted by devices. The centerpiece of the campaign includes the TV message, “Don’t drive intoxicated. Don’t drive intexticated.”
AAA Washington says from 2015 to 2017, distracted driving was the second driver-related cause of traffic fatalities in the state, with DUI the first.
Washington Patrol said during the first 12 months of the state's E-DUI law there was a 5.5 percent decrease in the number of distracted driver-involved crashes.
Read AAA's full report at this link.
Cox Media Group
