Most Parents are Failures

showcrop

Well-known Member
According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.
 
Those yellow flashing lights wouldn't save the lives of the people who'll be hit head on by the idiots who come sailing around us doing 60 on a blind curve. It's not just young folks either. I was making a left turn in to a field one day and two older couples in a white Buick ran right down in to the ditch to keep from hitting me.
 
I used to be a Boy Scout leader and almost any problem we ever had was with the parents - especially if the mom and Dad are separated/divorced. Everybody wants kids but not so many want to raise them. Having them is easy, raising them is hard work.
 
That was true 25 years ago, 50 years ago and it was probably also true 75 years ago, LOL.
 
My daughter just texted. She was sideswiped in a roundabout by a beat up minivan full of <blank>. They of course beat it out of there before she could grab a plate number. My kids are good drivers. We spent a lot of time on training.
 
There is a long, curvy gravel road just outside my hometown. When our daughter was in high school, she had a Mustang convertible. Need I say more?

Yep. Our daughter, now 40, recently admitted to me that when she was in high school she would frequently have a ball on that road with her Mustang.

Gotta admit, when I was in high school myself I had a souped up '36 Ford. I occasionally had a ball on that very same road.

What goes around, comes around, as the saying goes.
 
rrlund- Lots of yellow flashing lights and a big Red stop sign don't even stop people from stopping for a school bus that is letting kids on/off.

Heck, even a Police cruiser was caught on camera for not stopping for a school bus in West Virginia. West Virginia seems to have a real bad problem with people of all ages that do not stop for a stopped school bus.
Local News report
 
Our kids were safe drivers until they both got jobs in CA; then safe driving went out the window.
 
My wife and I are surprised to see the vast numbers of vehicles pass us and other vehicles on DOUBLE solid lines, drivers are talking on an electronic device while negotiating an intersection, drivers are tailgating..........and yes, they all appear to be 45 > 60 years of age.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.
people at that age have no sense of their own mortality and sometimes think they were born invincible.
 
The other day I had to lock em up because an Amish buggie came down his lane and right onto the road without stopping ! He/She was lucky I was paying good attention at the time. A year or so ago I had a school bus pull the same stunt.
 
I think you are right on with that. I even think of my own driving in my younger days. I think some of worst now days are women aged 30-50! Most of theme have jobs and think they are always running late. I just hate going into town at 5:00 in the afternoon when they all get off work and have to get to their next thing going on. Every street I go down I feel like some Suburban is gunna plow into me or run me over. Same goes for driving down a state road, if your not going 65 or over, get out of their way!
 
The BMW drivers are the worse around here! U know the difference between a BMW driver and a porcupine? On a porcupine the pricks are on the outside!
 
Maybe some - but definitely not all parents are failures. All along, we've always pounded it into our kid's heads:

Drive safely

Go slowly in snowy/icy/heavy rain conditions

Don't drive too fast... at any time

Take care in passing - never be in such a hurry that you're willing to die before you reach your destination

NEVER drink and drive

NEVER text and drive

Etc., etc. etc! (According to our kids... in ad nauseum! LOL)

BUT WILL THEY LISTEN??? Jimmy Buffet likes to say..."ONLY TIME WILL TELL." (And I highly agree with the poster who replied that teens/young adults often think they are invincible/immortal.)

We've also instructed them, both through example and words... about many life-issues: handling finances, relationships, God/church, and countless other subjects in life.

AND the two who are now grown adults have NOT always chosen to listen to our advice - despite our best efforts.

AND I don't doubt for a moment that the teen who still resides at home... is NOT always listening to our advice either.

BUT they can never say that we didn't inform them what the best/wisest choices are in life.

That is the way it goes... and in some way, the way it should be. Younger people have to make their own decisions and live their own lives... which includes dealing with the consequences of decisions they make and HOPEFULLY learning from any poor choices. And hopefully NOT ending up dead as a result of any of their decisions.
 
Kansas drivers are the worst of the central US drivers hands down! I'm always amazed at how agressive they are. Of course they still are nothing close to those from the north east or california, just the worst from the heartland.
 
That's a bit of a broad brush you paint there. Would you take complete responsibility for everything your 18-25 year old kid says?
 
(quoted from post at 11:57:18 02/16/17) In CA it's dog eat dog on the roads. If it wasn't, the [b:64cd590899]whole state would be in permanent gridlock[/b:64cd590899].

Can you imagine what it will be like when autonomous vehicles hit the road? :lol: Here in Michigan, they've built several "test cities" for self-driving cars to be tested in. In the videos I've seen of them, there's only 1 or 2 cars around. :roll: Can't wait until a self-driving car tries to pull out of a parking space in Manhattan or Chicago in rush hour. Or there's thousands of them on a California freeway. :shock:
 
Here in Ohio there was a teen age girl that had a bad accident while texting. Several months later she was killed in an accident because she was texting. I have lived many places, the worst was in Horry Co. SC. SC drivers don'r
know how to turn right. They stop half way thru the turn . I have never figured that out. In Ohio they never stop at a stop sign, Just coast on thru. In Florida changing lanes at a traffic light in front of other in the new lane. In NC they all drive around the curves on the wrong side of the road etc. Thank t
The Lord I am a pilot that learned to keep my head out of the cockpit or I probably would have been gone by now.
 
(quoted from post at 08:22:13 02/16/17) That was true 25 years ago, 50 years ago and it was probably also true 75 years ago, LOL.

Nope! In 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!
 
I think part of the problem is the
safety cocoon kids are raised in today.
At a young age I learned stupid is
painful.
 
(quoted from post at 12:56:33 02/16/17) Kansas drivers are the worst of the central US drivers hands down! I'm always amazed at how agressive they are. Of course they still are nothing close to those from the north east or california, just the worst from the heartland.

Guess you have not noticed Missouri drivers in Kansas.
Go East on I 35 toward KC. Johnson County Ks and Missouri drivers think they own the road.
 
I'm in the Baltimore/Wash DC area, some of worst traffic in the country. But the drivers are bad, too. Very common to approach a side street, make eye contact with other driver, then they pull out in front of me at last minute. Old, young, doesn't matter. You have to pretty much drive for everyone else when you get behind the wheel. Morning radio traffic report sounds like announcer at a demolition derby. Then repeat for evening. Short story then I'll finish my rant:
Got a call to check on my business around 4:30 am couple years back. Accident. Arrived to see my 14' box truck knocked out of its spot, with a demolished Japanese car just shy of running into the businesses at the industrial park. My truck had stopped it. Police said something about the woman trying to avoid a deer. I looked at the road--up a steep grassy embankment about 300' away, said the deer must have been chasing her for her to end up way down here and hit the ONLY thing parked in the lot.
Insurance co. tried to play along with the deer story, had to take pics, fight them, otherwise they were going to claim "act of God" and have me take care of replacing the truck. They relented and finally paid for a nice new truck. Should have sent the woman a thank-you note. Fortunately she and her passengers were not hurt.
 

Nothing has changed and it has nothing to do with parenting. It's hormones, testosterone, estrogen and youthful exuberance mixed together with that first taste of freedom. We were idiots back in the day too. We just didn't have cell phones to text on while we were driving. Other than that, not a thing has changed, except now the kids are far, far more likely to wear seatbelts.

As far as people in general, based on over 20 years as a cop I can say with assurance that at least 60% of the people driving out there today have a cranial-rectal inversion to one degree or another....
 
Bret, I agree!

Texting and cell phones are a huge distraction. But I do think the parents are somewhat to blame. Kids do what they see, not what they are told.

One good thing that is helping, the awareness of drinking. Used to be that was just something that was done, no big deal. Different story today!

Also todays cars, though they are much safer as for surviving a crash, I think they can also lull a person into a false sense of security. They ride and handle so well, a beginner driver never gets to find out what to do in an emergency. Back when I was learning to drive, I knew that 3 ton land yacht with drum brakes, loose steering. and may-pop tires was to be treated with respect!

Another pattern I am seeing, in the metro areas, on the interstate... The city cops in the larger citys have quit patrolling the freeways. They leave it up to the State DPS. DPS tends to work outside the city where they are more needed.

So, word is out, if you choose to drive 100+ MPH, not much chance of getting caught, especially on a motorcycle. Even if they do see a cop, the police are not likely to get too involved in a chase, or even try to stop them, causes too much distraction, onlooker traffic jamb.
 
I look back at what I was doing when I was 16-25 years old and pretty laugh when people talk about the "younger generation". Buying a 12 pack of beer and having it drank by the end of the night and driving home was just what you did.... If you got pulled over the patrolman might call your parents (I never got pulled over) or even give you ride home. Try that today and see what happens.
 
I think every driver should have to drive a vehicle with bad brakes for a while just to get over the thrill about seeing how fast they can come up to a stop sign and scare the bejeebers out of through traffic. TDF
 
(quoted from post at 11:43:52 02/16/17) I think part of the problem is the
safety cocoon kids are raised in today.
At a young age I learned stupid is
painful.
and sometimes fatal! i live near a large city with a subway and the train when it comes into the station stops and the car doors all open. A young woman, totally occupied on her cell phone stepped between cars rather than thru the open door. she was killed when the train crushed her. Tragic!
 
Guess the real problem is the grandparents who never taught their children how to be good parents......blaming others is easy it seems.
 
So when we all get around to riding in driverless cars, do you suppose there will be a user adjustable setting for "a**holery"? Different settings for different people in different "urgency" situations? Ma**holes and FIBS can use the one setting and someone out in the middle of No Dak say, can use a different setting.

CrabbyJack
 
I some what agree with your thoughts on young drivers,but at age 75 I have to be careful what I say. I recognize that my vision, hearing and reflexes aren't what they were 55 years ago. For that reason I have been considering upgrading to a Subaru with Eyesight. Not sure how good it would be, but if it helped prevent an accident it would be worth it.
 
I have to give a thumbs up to the Subaru Eyesight system. Not perfect but a good asset to have in your car. Love ours!
 
I said that one time before, and got reamed by the grandparents on this board, you know the ones. One in particular told me he raised his kids right, etc., etc. Blamed TV for the problems with his grandkids, and then a week later wanted to know how to wire up the DVD player for his grandkids to watch movies.
 
Matter of fact, I just went through both twice this week, Topeka to Dallas and back up to Kansas city.
 
When they do that in front of me, they hear my horn, LOUDLY. Then they get angry and tell me that I am number one with the Hawaiian good luck sign - lol!
 
I am a firm be leaver that it is time I mount a pair of Twin 50s on my
Ford Expedition and go out for a drive. ;) Was driving a IH pick up
truck down the county roads to the fields when I was 11 years old. No
body blinked an eye.
 
Could it be partly because today's drivers have a false sense of security? Car ads tout the safety of their new vehicles quite a bit now. Air bags, backup cameras, collision avoidance devices, ABS, traction control weren't in cars not too many years ago. These features are indeed saving lives, but are no excuse for unsafe driving. Maybe drivers think all these devices will keep them from being hurt in an accident. They certainly aren't thinking about the other guy. Our cars today can go fast pretty darned easy and are quieter. Maybe drivers are too sealed away from the world out there and aren't as aware of how fast they are really going. I see many more vehicles cross the center line today than I used to so distracted driving is definitely the biggie.
 
(quoted from post at 11:27:58 02/16/17) My daughter just texted. She was sideswiped in a roundabout by a beat up minivan full of &lt;blank&gt;. They of course beat it out of there before she could grab a plate number. My kids are good drivers. We spent a lot of time on training.

Was she texting when that happened?
 
What does this have to with cars? Young people always take
more risk. Some of you must remember that time!

To be serious though - we forget how risky driving is especially
if we've been doing it ok for a long time.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Every adult thinks they are a above average driver. :roll:

I had a neighbor that was like Mr Mcgoo. He hit trees, sign posts, mailboxes, and totaled his car by rear ending a large truck. He told me that he had dropped his phone. He ended up in the hospital for a week, for broken ribs, and internal injuries. Surprisingly, he didn't even get a ticket. I guess being a old white guy, a minister, and a long time resident counts for something.... :roll:
 
Agreed. That's why younger men make better soldiers. Old guys would never take the risks young men will take.
 
Johnson county drivers, that made me laugh because it is true. Lived in KC area for 9 years on the Missouri side. Yep a Johnson County driver would go from the slow lane to the passing lane just to cut in front of you and take the exit. Good stuff. My opinion, parents are not all to blame on how your kids act once they leave home. Yes they do learn from the parents but some kids will cave to peer pressure.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!
 
(quoted from post at 11:20:27 02/16/17) Those yellow flashing lights wouldn't save the lives of the people who'll be hit head on by the idiots who come sailing around us doing 60 on a blind curve. It's not just young folks either. I was making a left turn in to a field one day and two older couples in a white Buick ran right down in to the ditch to keep from hitting me.
In my observation, there seems to be a correlation to bad drivers and WHITE CARS. I was rear-ended by one years ago driven by a 17y/o boy in his mom's car. A friend had a white one turn left in front of her blue Bronco which totaled them both. I was nearly broadsided by a girl in a white Honda crossing a 55mph highway - just barely dinged my rear quarter because I accelerated rather than trying to stop and T-boning her. There are more I could relate, if I could remember them all. Every time I hit the road, I give extra attention to white cars, and as often as not, they need need special consideration.

Maybe it's a reverse Ninja thing: the Ninja in black believes he exists but can't be seen; the driver of a white car believes what can be seen doesn't exist. Or it might be something with the Spanish for white: "blanco", and the blank minds behind the wheel.

Come to think of it, even I'm not immune. The worst accident I was ever involved with, I was driving a white mini-van, pulling a trailer loaded too heavy in the rear. Cross wind on an overpass started it fish-tailing and threw me off the road at about 60mph. Only minor damage and finished the trip, but it certainly made me check my shorts.

Now to keep this tractor related: this is why I won't ever own a White tractor.
 
(quoted from post at 11:12:10 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!

Show: They are attributing that most often to cell phones and texting. They say those darns things are about as bad for driving as booze is.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 18:56:06 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 11:12:10 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!

Show: They are attributing that most often to cell phones and texting. They say those darns things are about as bad for driving as booze is.

Rick

Actually Rick, the study was a survey of thousands of millennials who answered questions such as how fast over the speed limit is safe, should you stop for stop signs, should you stop for red lights. It was all things that could get someone killed. Then they compared the results with ten-15 years earlier. The results showed an 88% increase in risky behavior. Not just texting.
 
(quoted from post at 19:34:04 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 18:56:06 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 11:12:10 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!

Show: They are attributing that most often to cell phones and texting. They say those darns things are about as bad for driving as booze is.

Rick

Actually Rick, the study was a survey of thousands of millennials who answered questions such as how fast over the speed limit is safe, should you stop for stop signs, should you stop for red lights. It was all things that could get someone killed. Then they compared the results with ten-15 years earlier. The results showed an 88% increase in risky behavior. Not just texting.

I'm not saying that AAA's survey is wrong BUT......

It's a survey. You can get different results with the same questions in different areas or times. Surveys can differ just because people can and do lie. So I can take someone's word for it or I can use other data, in this case how about a sampling of tickets?

How about data from observations? I know that where I live for example we have seen a lot more traffic than 10 or 20 years ago. and that's up from 40 years ago. What I have not noticed was a difference in driving habits. 20 years ago on the highway that passes through our farm I saw people pull out in front of traffic, pass 4 or 5 cars at once, tailgate and run 5-10 miles over the posted speed limit. I see the same thing today. Sure more often but traffic is much heavier to day too. Another thing I've noticed is that young people today are more willing to admit to risky behavior, almost like they are bragging about it rather than hiding it. I can't prove it but I think that a lot has to do with the internet and the 5 minutes of fame that can be achieved by posting a video of you doing something stupid.

OK so on one hand you have AAA's survey, on the other accident reports. Now I know from talking to a few cops I know that you get involved in an accident today it's almost a given that they are going to check cell records to see if you were using your phone and weather it was for a call or texting. The cops and the National Highway Safety Counsel both attribute the rise in traffic deaths to cell phone usage. That data is gathered from accident investigations.

So who do I trust? A survey that can be affected by social acceptance of the time or actual data gathered from police investigations that include evidence like cell phone records?

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 07:52:47 02/19/17)
(quoted from post at 19:34:04 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 18:56:06 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 11:12:10 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!

Show: They are attributing that most often to cell phones and texting. They say those darns things are about as bad for driving as booze is.

Rick

Actually Rick, the study was a survey of thousands of millennials who answered questions such as how fast over the speed limit is safe, should you stop for stop signs, should you stop for red lights. It was all things that could get someone killed. Then they compared the results with ten-15 years earlier. The results showed an 88% increase in risky behavior. Not just texting.

I'm not saying that AAA's survey is wrong BUT......

It's a survey. You can get different results with the same questions in different areas or times. Surveys can differ just because people can and do lie. So I can take someone's word for it or I can use other data, in this case how about a sampling of tickets?

How about data from observations? I know that where I live for example we have seen a lot more traffic than 10 or 20 years ago. and that's up from 40 years ago. What I have not noticed was a difference in driving habits. 20 years ago on the highway that passes through our farm I saw people pull out in front of traffic, pass 4 or 5 cars at once, tailgate and run 5-10 miles over the posted speed limit. I see the same thing today. Sure more often but traffic is much heavier to day too. Another thing I've noticed is that young people today are more willing to admit to risky behavior, almost like they are bragging about it rather than hiding it. I can't prove it but I think that a lot has to do with the internet and the 5 minutes of fame that can be achieved by posting a video of you doing something stupid.

OK so on one hand you have AAA's survey, on the other accident reports. Now I know from talking to a few cops I know that you get involved in an accident today it's almost a given that they are going to check cell records to see if you were using your phone and weather it was for a call or texting. The cops and the National Highway Safety Counsel both attribute the rise in traffic deaths to cell phone usage. That data is gathered from accident investigations.

So who do I trust? A survey that can be affected by social acceptance of the time or actual data gathered from police investigations that include evidence like cell phone records?

Rick

Well Rick, You can draw your conclusions from "talking to a few cops" (was that one or two?) or from sample of 2,511 respondents. I and the rest of the world will go with the 2,531.
 
(quoted from post at 11:57:48 02/19/17)
(quoted from post at 07:52:47 02/19/17)
(quoted from post at 19:34:04 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 18:56:06 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 11:12:10 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 09:22:19 02/18/17)
(quoted from post at 08:12:23 02/16/17) According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 88% of drivers 19 to 24 believe that taking many risks while driving is perfectly OK. This is of course the fault of no one but their parents who are aged 35 to 50. Many did a great job but most appear to have abdicated the job. We all need very powerful flashing yellow beacon lights on our tractors if they ever go on the road.

Gotta say from personal experience that you are dead wrong. When I got my license way back in 1971 my parents had tired to raise me right. But behind the wheel I was dangerous! I got lucky and never got in a wreck. But I drove like a wild man when my parents couldn't see! In 72 while working for a farmer I got forced into the ditch on a 756 Farmall with a semi mount 4 bottom plow by a guy coming the other way. He was taking his half out the middle of the road. Middle aged guy too. He went in one ditch, me the other. Boss was behind me in his pickup.

I think that the lighting requirements of today are more a reflection that in many areas there is much more traffic. Lot more cars on the road. They didn't use to have seat belts either.

Rick

Rick, you can give tens of thousands of examples of exceptions to the rule, but it is still 88% very aggressive and in 2015 traffic deaths were up 7% over the year before. The LARGEST INCREASE IN 50 YEARs!!

Show: They are attributing that most often to cell phones and texting. They say those darns things are about as bad for driving as booze is.

Rick

Actually Rick, the study was a survey of thousands of millennials who answered questions such as how fast over the speed limit is safe, should you stop for stop signs, should you stop for red lights. It was all things that could get someone killed. Then they compared the results with ten-15 years earlier. The results showed an 88% increase in risky behavior. Not just texting.

I'm not saying that AAA's survey is wrong BUT......

It's a survey. You can get different results with the same questions in different areas or times. Surveys can differ just because people can and do lie. So I can take someone's word for it or I can use other data, in this case how about a sampling of tickets?

How about data from observations? I know that where I live for example we have seen a lot more traffic than 10 or 20 years ago. and that's up from 40 years ago. What I have not noticed was a difference in driving habits. 20 years ago on the highway that passes through our farm I saw people pull out in front of traffic, pass 4 or 5 cars at once, tailgate and run 5-10 miles over the posted speed limit. I see the same thing today. Sure more often but traffic is much heavier to day too. Another thing I've noticed is that young people today are more willing to admit to risky behavior, almost like they are bragging about it rather than hiding it. I can't prove it but I think that a lot has to do with the internet and the 5 minutes of fame that can be achieved by posting a video of you doing something stupid.

OK so on one hand you have AAA's survey, on the other accident reports. Now I know from talking to a few cops I know that you get involved in an accident today it's almost a given that they are going to check cell records to see if you were using your phone and weather it was for a call or texting. The cops and the National Highway Safety Counsel both attribute the rise in traffic deaths to cell phone usage. That data is gathered from accident investigations.

So who do I trust? A survey that can be affected by social acceptance of the time or actual data gathered from police investigations that include evidence like cell phone records?

Rick

Well Rick, You can draw your conclusions from "talking to a few cops" (was that one or two?) or from sample of 2,511 respondents. I and the rest of the world will go with the 2,531.

Nope, not the rest of the world either. That is a sample of well UNDER 1% of the population. Something like .0008%. And you are going to judge the entire population on .0008%?

They are teaching kids in college today to question survey results because they can be so statistically inaccurate. They've been teaching that for MORE than 20 years. Now the info from the National Highway Safety Counsel is based on what's called evidence resulting from accident investigations. That's the data I trust.

Right now it's socially accepted amongst teens and young adults to do high risk things. And being young the ones that don't say they do anyway to be accepted.

I don't see any difference in driving habits from the time I learned to drive. Just see it more often because there are that many more vehicles on the road. And blaming it on parents? Parents who may have taught them better?

Back in the 80's and 90's the Army started doing risk surveys on soldiers. They lied big time because they feared getting in trouble. Questions ranged from drinking, seat belt usage drinking and unprotected adult stuff. You would have thought reading the results that they were all clean cut, seat belt wearing, non drinkers who were saving themselves for marriage.


The cops I talked to all say basically the same thing I read in the news. That in the event of serious injury or death one of the first parts of an accident investigation is to check record.

Rick
 

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