More Than 70 Percent of Twin Cities Drivers Ages 18-34 Use Cell Phones and/or Eat...

More Than 70 Percent of Twin Cities Drivers Ages 18-34 Use Cell Phones and/or
Eat While Driving; One in Three Text Message While Behind Wheel
60 Percent of Twin Cities Drivers Say Distracted Drivers Are Their Biggest
Stressor On Road, According to New AAA Minneapolis Survey

MINNEAPOLIS, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- How many Twin Cities drivers are
driving with one hand on the wheel and the other preoccupied with a cell
phone, iPod, BlackBerry or hamburger? According to a new "Twin Cities
Driving Behavior" Survey commissioned by AAA Minneapolis, 77 percent of
drivers ages 18-34 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area snack while they drive,
70 percent talk on cell phones and one in three young adults actually text
message while behind the wheel.
The habits of these Twin Cities drivers -- their attention torn between
driving and eating fast food or communicating on their iPhones or PDAs --
causes 60 percent of Twin Cities drivers ages 18-54 to feel stressed while on
the road with these distracted drivers. In fact, AAA Minneapolis survey
respondents say distracted drivers in general cause them more behind-the-wheel
anxiety and stress than poor road conditions and construction delays, or from
drivers who merge or change lanes improperly, tailgate, or drive slowly or
over-aggressively.
AAA Minneapolis' "Twin Cities Driving Behavior" Survey results echo
national driving trends. In 2007, more than 1 million drivers at any given
daylight moment across the nation were using hand-held phones, according to
the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration. A recent insurance survey found that nationally
80 percent of drivers drank non-alcoholic beverages, 73 percent talked on cell
phones, 68 percent ate snacks, 41 percent ate meals, 19 percent fixed their
hair, 12 percent put on or adjusted their make-up, 5 percent read a magazine
or newspaper, and 31 percent admitted to daydreaming while driving.
"Our organization was startled to learn more than 70 percent of young
adults in the Twin Cities are multitasking, even text messaging and dialing
cell phone numbers, while they're driving," said Steve Frank, president and
CEO of AAA Minneapolis. "AAA Minneapolis supports Minnesota's new state law
prohibiting text messaging while driving, which goes into effect on August 1.
But clearly the crisis of distracted driving -- which leads to hundreds of
traffic crashes and driving deaths each year -- is a big issue in the Twin
Cities, which includes text messaging while on the road."
"Our driving survey results are especially eye-opening," added Frank,
"given that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Virginia
Tech Transportation Institute have determined that 80 percent of crashes and
65 percent of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction -- from
using a cell phone to applying make-up and reading."
The AAA Minneapolis' study also found that more (10 percentage points)
Twin Cities men than women admit to text message while driving.
One piece of good news revealed from the AAA Minneapolis survey is that an
encouraging 91 percent of Twin Cities drivers claim they "always" wear their
seat belts when driving or riding in a vehicle. This figure is 10 percentage
points higher than the 2007 national seat belt use average of 81 percent cited
by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
About AAA Minneapolis
AAA Minneapolis is a full-service automotive, travel, insurance, financial
and community services organization, serving nearly 185,000 members in the
Hennepin County area. To learn more about AAA, log on to http://www.aaa.com.
About AAA's 2008 "Twin Cities Driving Behavior" Survey
AAA Minneapolis conducted its first "Twin Cities Driving Behavior" Survey
online in June 2008 through Ipsos, an international market research company
with offices across North America and all over the world. Ipsos polled a
cross section of 1,000 men and women in the seven-county (Hennepin, Anoka,
Carver, Dakota, Ramsey, Scott and Washington) Twin Cities metro area, ages 18
to 54 years old, who are licensed drivers. Results have a five percent margin
of error.
For a fact sheet that summarizes the key findings from AAA Minneapolis'
2008 "Twin Cities Driving Behavior" Survey or to set up an interview with AAA
Minneapolis spokespeople Steve Frank or Dawn Duffy, please contact Katie
Fitzpatrick at 612-337-0087 or katie@maccabee.com.
SOURCE AAA Minneapolis

Katie Fitzpatrick or Mike Weiner, both of Maccabee Group, +1-612-337-0087, for
AAA Minneapolis