SURVEY: Drivers feel 35% less safe than they did five years ago... do you? [w/POLL]
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/safety/" rel="tag">Safety</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/07/73433777-630op.jpg" /><br />
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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released new survey results stating that over one-third of the motorists it polled are driving scared. More specifically, they feel less safe than they did back in 2004. Thing is, <a href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/us_highway_deaths_at_lowe st_le.html">2008 was the safest year</a> to drive a car since 1961, and adjusted for population growth, the safest year in American motoring history. Yet Americans feel less safe. Why? Yakking on cell phones and texting while behind the wheel were cited as the main reasons. In other words, distracted driving.<br />
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The question, then, is why? Well, cell phones are quite visible. In other words, just by looking you can't tell that the dude next to you poured a pint of tequila into his Big Gulp or that the woman next to him has been awake for the last 37 hours. But you <em>can</em> see that they're yelling at their spouse through the phone. Texting's worse because they're always looking down and sometimes have both hands off the wheel. Just our theory. <br />
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Another theory is that as the belt line of cars continue to rise and resemble armored cars, visibility plummets. Not being able to see out of a vehicle probably makes one feel unsafe. Another theory? Now that manufacturers talk about safety all the time (think: those Volkswagen commercials - SMASH!) people are starting to think about safety more and more. And finally, maybe the recession just has people singin' the blues. Full press release after the jump.<br />
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<p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/28/survey-drivers-feel-35-less-safe-than-they-did-five-years-ago/#poll32424">View Poll</a></p><br />
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[Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty]<br />
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<br /><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/28/survey-drivers-feel-35-less-safe-than-they-did-five-years-ago/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>SURVEY: Drivers feel 35% less safe than they did five years ago... do you? [w/POLL]</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/28/survey-drivers-feel-35-less-safe-than-they-did-five-years-ago/">SURVEY: Drivers feel 35% less safe than they did five years ago... do you? [w/POLL]</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/28/survey-drivers-feel-35-less-safe-than-they-did-five-years-ago/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19111958/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/28/survey-drivers-feel-35-less-safe-than-they-did-five-years-ago/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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