In 2020, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) conducted its yearly survey, allowing drivers to voice safety concerns. 2,867 eligible respondents completed the survey, an increase from the 1,298 participants that completed the 2019 survey. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Office of Traffic Safety conducted an online survey instead of accepting in-person results. The office believes that the increased number of participants was due to the online survey. Below are some highlights from the California Office of Traffic Safety 2020 Annual Report.
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Summary of Findings of the 2020 California Traffic Safety Survey
In 2020, the California Office of Traffic Safety surveyed safety concerns that California drivers had and compared the results from 2019. The California Office of Traffic Safety found that the overall safety concerns of drivers had changed in some significant ways in one year. The office focused on common areas of safety concern. The survey discussed distracted driving, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, speeding, ridesharing, sharing the road with driverless vehicles, and the impact of the COVID-19 shelter in place orders put into effect in 2020.
The 2020 survey found that 68.5% of respondents believed that the greatest danger to drivers was distracted drivers, specifically texting while driving. Over one-half of the survey respondents stated that they have been in an accident, or nearly been in an accident, caused by a driver that was texting. The survey asked respondents if they used their phones while driving. Respondents self-reported that they rarely or never used their cell phones while driving, but drivers are less likely to report that they made a mistake when driving while using a cell phone or electronic device.
Respondents also reported that distracted driving, including speeding and aggressive driving, were the second and third largest safety concerns in 2020. Surprisingly, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol did not make the top three safety concerns for California drivers in 2020. According to data collected by respondents, the number of drivers who admitted to having at least one drink before driving increased in 2020 from the number of drivers that reported to have drunk before driving in 2019.
The frequency of ridesharing apps like Lyft and Uber and designated drivers decreased in 2020 from the numbers reported in 2019. The survey suggested that the Shelter in Place Orders implemented across California were responsible for this trend. Whether the use of marijuana before driving increased safety risks varied by region. For example, most respondents from the Central California region believed that marijuana use does not impair motor function.
In 2020 the number of driverless vehicles sharing the road with motorists increased. Respondents reported that they had at least some level of mistrust of driverless cars. It is a safety concern for most California drivers, despite what region from which they respond.
Respondents were also asked to discuss their comfort with sharing the roads with bicyclists. The survey found that 63% of drivers asked thought it is illegal for bikes to share the road with motorists if there is no bicycle lane. Respondents also reported that they were somewhat uncomfortable sharing the road with a bicyclist when there was no separate bicycle lane.
Specific Safety Concerns by California Region
The surveyors separated the survey responses by region. The regions include Northern California, Central California, and Southern California. What follows were each region’s safety concerns:
Northern California
- Speeding or aggressive driving – 19.7%M
- Distracted driving or texting while driving – 19.3%M
- Drunk driving – 17.3%M
- Bad road surfaces – 11.3 %M
- Drugged driving – 10.7 %M
- All other concerns combined – 21.7%M
Central California
- Distracted driving or texting while driving – 19.9%M
- Speeding or aggressive driving – 17.4%M
- Drunk driving – 17.9%M
- Bad road surfaces – 10.9%M
- Drugged driving – 11.3%Move
- All other concerns combined – 27.7%M
Southern California
- Distracted driving or texting while driving – 19.9%M
- Speeding or aggressive driving – 19.2%M
- Drunk driving – 18.1 %M
- Bad road surfaces – 10.4%M
- Drugged driving – 10.1%M
- All other concerns combined – 22.3%M
What Are the Most Serious Distractions for Drivers by Region?
Again, the survey reported responses from three regions of California. The survey found that most drivers in each area reported that texting while driving was the most severe driving distraction for California drivers.
Northern California
- Texting and driving – 64.6%
- Cell phone conversations while driving – 18.9%
- Car crashes and other vehicle issues – 8.3%
- Roadside billboards – 0.6%
- GPS or navigation systems – 2.3%
- Interacting with passengers in the car – 1.8%
- Drunk drivers – 0.6%
- Construction on roadways – 0%
- Eating while driving – 1.3%
- Other forms of inattentive driving – 0%
- Other – 1.7%
Central California
- Texting while driving – 69.9%
- Cell phone conversations – 15.9%
- Car crashes and other vehicle issues – 5.8%
- Roadside billboards – 3.9%
- GPS or navigation systems – 1.7%
- Interacting with passengers in the car – 0.8%
- Drunk drivers – 0%
- Construction on roadways – 0.3%
- Eating while driving – 1.1 %
- Other forms of inattentive driving – 0.3%
- Other – 0.3%
Southern California
- Texting while driving – 70.1%
- Cell phone conversations –16.9%
- Car crashes and other vehicle issues – 5.6%
- Roadside billboards –1.5%
- GPS or navigation systems – 1.5%
- Interacting with passengers in the car – 1.0%
- Drunk drivers – 0.2%
- Construction on roadways – 0.1%
- Eating while driving – 2.1%
- Other forms of inattentive driving – 0.4%
- Other – 0.7%
Cellphone Use While Driving
Because most respondents reported that texting while driving was their biggest driving concern, the survey further asked drivers about their use of electronic devices while driving. One-third of respondents admitted to regularly or sometimes using their cell phones while driving. Two-thirds of respondents reported that they either rarely or never used their phones when they drove. The tendency for drivers to use an electronic device while operating a vehicle did not change depending on the region of the state where the respondent lived.
The numbers reported in 2020 were greater for several respondents who admitted to using their cellphone regularly or sometimes those who reported they used their cellphone regularly or sometimes in 2019. The number of drivers who said they rarely or never use their cellphone increased in 2020 from the number reported in 2019. 44.7% of respondents reported that they made a mistake while driving because they used their cellphone while going.
In 2019, 51.3% of drivers said they made a mistake while driving because they used their cellphone while driving—the number of errors made because of cellphone use while driving decreased 6.6% in 2020 from 2019. 51.7% of respondents reported that they have been injured or hurt because another driver was texting or using their cellphone while driving, a 6.2% decrease from 2019.
Cellphone Use and Tickets
51.8% of respondents to the California Office of Traffic Safety 2020 survey reported that they thought it was likely that they would be pulled over because they were using their cellphone while driving. The survey found that 34.5% of drivers thought it was unlikely to be pulled over and ticketed because of their cellphone use while driving.
Recall of Safety Programs
The 2020 survey asked about specific programs aimed at increasing traffic safety. The survey found that:
- 30.2% of respondents remembered the “Go Safely California” campaign
- 50.3% of respondents remembered the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign
- The ‘Pedestrians Don’t Have Armor” campaign was more widely remembered by respondents from Northern California than any other region in the state.
- 11.4% of respondents remembered the “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze” campaign
- 13.3% of respondents remembered the “Put Your Phone Down, Just Drive” campaign, which was an increase in recollection according to the 2019 survey results
The respondents were asked where they heard about each campaign. Most respondents answered that they heard about the campaigns by seeing a road sign with a changeable message or TV or Facebook. Other respondents stated that they learned about the campaigns from Twitter, Instagram, or from another website.
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Californians and Driving Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol
The California Office of Traffic Safety asked respondents about drug and alcohol use before operating a vehicle. In response to this line of questioning, 7.8% of drivers stated that they drove after drinking too much and believing they were legally intoxicated. On the other hand, 24% of respondents stated that they did not drink alcohol.
The survey showed a 9.5% reduction in alcohol consumption before driving. However, the results suggest that the decrease in drinking is a natural consequence of the shelter-in-place order implemented across the state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey did not show a significant difference in the percentage of drivers that used alcohol before driving among the Northern, Central, or Southern California regions.
32.8% of respondents did admit that they always used or acted as the designated driver when they went out to drink in 2019. However, in 2020, 39.3% of respondents stated that they used ridesharing apps like Lyft or Uber when they went out to party, a significant decrease in the number of reported users in 2019. The survey chalks this number up to implementing the shelter-in-place order across the state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Recollection of DUI Checkpoints Across the State
Overall, 55.5% of respondents report that they recalled seeing or at least hearing about a DUI checkpoint being set up by police at least once during the six months before completing the survey. The survey found that respondents that lived in Central California remember seeing or hearing about police DUI checkpoints at a higher rate than any other region in the state. According to the 2020 survey, what follows are the recollection of DUI checkpoints by region:
- Northern California – 53.5% of citizens recalled a DUI checkpoint
- Central California – 64.1% of citizens recalled a DUI checkpoint
- Southern California – 54.6% of citizens recalled a DUI checkpoint
Awareness of the Consequences of Getting a DUI
According to the 2020 survey results, 90.3% of respondents reported that they knew that being arrested or citation is a consequence of driving while impaired. However, the concern about suffering a result varied from region to region. Respondents from Central California frequently believed that it was very likely that if they drove while impaired, they would get cited or arrested.
However, respondents from Northern California reported that they thought it was doubtful that they would get pulled over or detained if they drove impaired. The perception of it is highly likely that an impaired person will face the consequences after driving while impaired decreased by 6.8% from 2019 to 2020.
Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana
Respondents across each state region agree that marijuana use affects a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle. Citizens of Central California showed a slightly larger number of respondents who believe marijuana would impair a person’s driving ability. The 2020 survey showed that more than one-half of respondents believe that using drugs and driving is a huge problem. This stance has not changed since the 2019 survey.
Dangers of Driving Over the Speed Limit
Most California drivers that responded to the 2020 survey shared a perception that it is unsafe to drive ten miles over the speed limit. However, compared to the number of people who thought it was safe to go over the speed limit in 2019, there was a 23.6% decrease in the number of drivers that believed it is safe to drive over the speed limit according to the 2020 survey. The 2020 survey results showed a 23.8% increase from 2019 of drivers that reported to believe that the speed the driving is traveling determines safety.
The majority of Central California residents that responded to the survey reported that they thought it was unsafe to drive even five miles per hour over the speed limit. As compared to the results of the California Office of Traffic Safety 2019 survey, fewer people in 2020 believe that it is safe to drive over the speed limit, and some drivers think that it depends on how fast the driver is going. In 2019, 49.8% of drivers believed driving over the speed limit was unsafe. In 2020, 51.8% of drivers thought driving over the speed limit was dangerous.
Will I Be Pulled Over If I Am Speeding?
According to the 2020 survey, 67.8% of California drivers believe that if they speed, it is very likely they will be pulled over by a police officer and given a ticket. The number of drivers who thought that they would likely get pulled over by the police speeding increased by 7.2% compared to 2019.
Driverless Vehicles
The 2020 survey asked California drivers about driverless vehicles and how they felt about their increased presence on the road. The 2020 survey found that 24% of California drivers thought driverless vehicles made the roads and freeways safer. Compared to the 35.9% of California drivers that believed driverless cars would make the road safer in 2019. This change in thought reflects an 11.9% decrease in driver confidence in the safety of driverless vehicles.
According to the 2020 survey results, 57.4% of drivers in California claimed they were uncomfortable having to share the road with driverless vehicles. In 2019, 46.1% of California drivers reported being comfortable sharing the road with a driverless car. The survey shows no data that suggests why there is a decrease in driver confidence when it comes to driverless vehicles.
Sharing the Road With Bicyclists
The 2020 survey showed that 63% of California drivers believed it was legal for motor vehicles and bicyclists to share the roadways and freeways even when there is no bike lane. In 2019, the number of California drivers who thought it was legal for bicyclists to share the road with motorists reached 80.2%. The survey showed that 72.8% of California drivers reported being comfortable sharing the road with bicyclists if there is a bike lane present. However, 61.3% of respondents claimed that they were uncomfortable sharing the road with a bicyclist if there was no bike lane on the road.
Respondents were asked about their experiences as pedestrians and bicyclists sharing the road with motorists. The survey wanted to know what dangerous pedestrians and bicyclists experienced while traveling. The most frequently reported problem was cars going too fast. Other issues that pedestrians and bicyclists reported include:
- Lack of sidewalks
- Lots of traffic
- Cars not stopping
- Distracted driving
- Drivers do not look for pedestrians
- No bike lanes
- Drivers not paying attention
Just as pedestrians and bicyclists have safety concerns caused by motorists, drivers have some safety concerns caused by pedestrians. Some safety concerns that drivers have regarding pedestrians and cyclists include:
- Pedestrians not using crosswalks
- Pedestrians stepping off the curb without looking for traffic
- Pedestrians and cyclists not being visible enough
- Pedestrians and cyclists are distracted by headsets, ear pods, phones, etc.
- Cyclists not stopping at traffic lights or stop signs
- No sidewalks or crosswalks
- No bike lanes
The concerns of motorists about safety around pedestrians and bicyclists are consistent throughout the state. The survey showed consistency in opinion about what safety concerns motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists share when sharing the road.
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