Empty roads during the pandemic may have sparked an increase in bad driving habits according to a poll from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA).
Steve Olmstead, CAA Atlantic’s Director of Public and Government Affairs, says aggressive driving remains a major concern for Canadians.
“Ninety percent of people who responded to the poll say aggressive driving such as drivers running red lights, rolling through stop signs and speeding are a serious threat to their safety on the road.”
Pandemic-related stress may have played a role but Olmstead adds these behaviours existed long before COVID-19.
Olmstead says impaired driving is also something most Canadians take very seriously.
“Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs has always been a threat to Canadians on the roads. It’s extremely important that people make plans for alternative transportation if they plan on consuming alcohol, cannabis or anything else.”
The CAA poll asked Canadians what driving behaviours they see as a serious threat to their safety. The top serious threats of 2021 are:
- Drivers running red lights (93%)
People driving after drinking alcohol (93%)
People driving after using illegal drugs (93%) - People driving aggressively (92%)
People using their phones while driving (92%)
Sleepy drivers (92%) - Drivers speeding on residential streets (91%)
- People driving well over the speed limit (90%)
- People driving after using cannabis (85%)
- Drivers speeding on freeways (80%)
- People engaging with their in-car technologies (67%)
- People driving after taking prescription drugs (64%)
- Large trucks (53%)
- People using in-car speech recognition (like Siri or CarPlay) (33%)
The latest CAA findings are based on a poll of 2,009 Canadians carried out from November 24 to December 2, 2021.
