Young Minnesota Drivers Prove Preoccupied

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.

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).