Distracted driving, speeding, and impaired driving: Cause for concern

Press release
Published on December 29, 2021

Canadians view dangerous driving as a serious safety threat. According to the latest Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) survey, Impaired driving, distracted driving, and speeding top their list of concerns.[1]

Given that 80% of accidents[2] are the direct result of driver behaviour, the results come as no surprise Among the most serious threats to road safety, respondents mentioned:

Distracted driving

  • People using their phones while driving (92%)
  • People engaging with their in-car technologies (67%)
  • People using in-car speech recognition (like Siri or CarPlay) (33%)

Speeding

  • People driving over the speed limit in residential neighbourhoods (91%)
  • People driving well over the speed limit (90%)
  • People driving over the speed limit on the highway (80%)

Impaired driving

  • Alcohol (93%)
  • Illegal drugs (93%)
  • Cannabis (85%)
  • Prescription drugs (64%)

“Not surprisingly, the results of the CAA poll are consistent with the most recent annual road safety record, which points to distracted driving and speeding as the top two causes of accidents,” says Marco Harrison, road safety expert and director of the CAA-Quebec Foundation.

Since impaired driving was top of mind for respondents, there’s no better time than the holidays for a reminder not to drive after consuming drugs or alcohol.

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“Christmas may be in our rear view mirror, but New Year’s Eve is just around the corner. It’s important to practise safe driving habits by not getting behind the wheel after imbibing and having a plan for getting home safely.”

- Marco Harrison, Road Safety Expert and Director of the CAA-Quebec Foundation

A friendly reminder from CAA-Quebec: There’s no excuse for driving while impaired and there are a lot of options for staying safe:

  • A taxi or other ride service
  • Public transit
  • A friend or relative
  • A designated driver
  • Stay the night

About CAA-Quebec

CAA-Quebec is a not-for-profit organization that assists each of its members by providing mobility, travel, insurance, and residential benefits, products, and services. CAA was named Canada’s most trusted brand in the annual Brand Trust Index for 2021 by the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria.

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[1] The latest CAA findings are based on a poll of 2,009 Canadians carried out from November 24 to December 2, 2021. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/-2.19%, 19 times out of 20.

[2] Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec