Traffic Payout

Four out of five people consider drinking while driving a very serious threat to their safety, according to a 2008 survey by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). In fact, the Foundation’s own 2009 Index found that 90% of people rated drunk driving to be a serious threat to safety. Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t always translate their knowledge into action. As mentioned in USA Today, a government study released yesterday found that one in twelve drivers admit driving drunk at least once over the course of a year and one in five drivers admit driving within two hours after having an alcoholic beverage. This “Do As I Say, Not As I Do” attitude demonstrates that despite the progress made in stigmatizing drunk driving, it remains a serious issue on our highways. The ultimate challenge for us on this – and other issues like texting while driving – is to change the societal attitude so that knowledge is translated to smarter behavior on the road.