New
Survey Reveals Driving Pet Peeves
Drivers
Find Little Wrong with Their Own Driving Habits,
But Plenty
in Others'
As
you sit in your car fighting traffic, you can take comfort in
knowing that the vast majority of drivers around you describe
their driving behavior as "safe," "reliable,"
confident" or "smart." You may take less comfort
in knowing that many of these same drivers also admit to driving
fast or driving after drinking.
Allstate's
"You Are What You Drive" survey reveals how people describe
themselves as drivers is often at odds with how they actually
drive. The Allstate survey reveals both serious and fun information
about American drivers' opinions about issues ranging from dream
road trips to the annoying driving habits of others.
According
to the Allstate survey, 90 percent of American drivers believe
they are "safe" drivers and 79 percent consider themselves
to be "cautious" drivers. However, the survey also reveals
that one in three drivers admit to being a "fast" driver
and almost all admit to having "raced" with other drivers
on at least one occasion. And 22 percent admit to having driven
after having had three or more alcoholic drinks in the past five
years.
"We're
not surprised to learn that people feel good about their own driving
habits," said Todd DeYoung, vice president and acting chief
marketing officer, Allstate Insurance Company. "Unfortunately,
the facts don't always agree. Perhaps this is a wake-up call that
people need to pay better attention to their driving habits."
Let Me Drive!
When
it comes to getting behind the wheel of their cars, 53 percent
of drivers say they enjoy driving "very much," with
48 percent agreeing that they feel a "sense of freedom"
when driving. In fact when choosing from a list of several possibilities,
42 percent of drivers selected a cross-country drive as their
dream vacation rather than a trip through the Grand Canyon or
Alaska.
However,
while American drivers may dream of the open road, the reality
apparently is that people use their cars primarily for running
errands and getting to work. Fully 75 percent of drivers said
they have not taken a driving trip during the past year that lasted
longer than one day, and 63 percent said they have never taken
a road trip that lasted more than six hours.
In
identifying the major uses of their car, 79 percent of those surveyed
cited errands, 74 percent said grocery shopping, and 60 percent
said commuting to and from work. Only 35 percent cited vacation. ll
Take the "Cheap" Stuff
Insurance
is a fact of life for car owners, but that doesn't mean they spend
a lot of time thinking about it. In fact, 17 percent of those
surveyed admit they have "no clue" what their insurance
would cover in case of an accident.
And
when it comes to buying auto insurance, cost is the overwhelming
consideration when asked to choose from some possible criteria.
More than six in ten (64 percent) responded that cost is their
top consideration in buying insurance, while 28 percent cited
"reputation of the company" as the most influential
factor. However, when factoring the cost of auto insurance into
the purchase of a car, only 16 percent viewed it as an "important
consideration."
"It's
not just safe driving that people should pay attention to,"
DeYoung said. "Making sure you have adequate auto insurance
coverage is equally as important."
Litter
Bugs, Tailgaters Among Top Drivers' Pet Peeves
On
the lighthearted side, the Allstate survey shows that American
drivers have strong opinions about the most annoying habits of
other drivers. When asked about a list of behaviors, nearly nine
in ten drivers said they are very annoyed when other drivers "drive
too close," "throw trash out of the car window"
or "don't use their signals." Following closely behind,
84 percent responded they're very annoyed by others who "drive
slow in the passing lane," while 83 percent cited drivers
who "weave in and out of traffic."
Rounding
out the list of most-annoying habits of other drivers were "hogging
the road," cited by 71 percent of respondents, "riding
the brakes" (69 percent), and "talking on their cell
phone" (61 percent).
For
Better or For Worse, Americans Have a Unique "Car-ma"
Many
drivers admitted to a strong emotional relationship with driving
and their cars, ranging from those who "love their car"
(26 percent) to those that consider driving "a sport"
(six percent). Only 18 percent admitted negative feelings toward
their car, calling it "just a way to get from one place to
another."
For
24 percent of survey respondents, "driving gives them a true
sense of freedom," while 14 percent said their car is "an
expression of who I am in life." And nine percent of those
surveyed said their car "is the center of my life."
A
CAR BY ANY OTHER NAME.... |
Do
you have a name for your car? Allstate discovered the following
about car names:
- By
far the most common name is Betsy (mostly Betsy, some
Betsey)-- 26 citations in survey.
- If
you add in Bessie or Bessy, there are an additional eight
entries listed (and one Bessie Lou).
- Girls'
names are more popular than boys' (some examples of girls'
names include: Marie, Minnie, Molly, Agnes, Bella, Diana,
Ginger, Nellie, Ruthy, Tammy and Vanessa).
- Blue
is popular with a total of five entries, not counting
Big Blue, Blue Beast, Blue Bertha, Blue Sapphire, Blue
Bomb, Bluebell, Bluebird and Blueboy
- Red
is also fairly popular, but not on its own (only two "Red"
citations). Big Red, Red October, Big Red One, Big Red
Truck, etc.... also Red Baron, Red Car, Red Dragon, Red
Racer, Red Robin and, of course, Red Hot Mama!
- Green
is probably the next favorite color. Entries include:
Green Burrito, Green Goblin, Green Hornet, Green Weenie,
Green Machine (most popular green name) and, of course,
Green Meanie!
- People
seem to have lots of issues with their cars! Examples
include: Little Blue Piece of Shit, Damn Mean Machine,
Elizabitch, Fugly, Garbage Barge, Gutless Wonder, Mini
Van of Doom, Piece of Shit, Rondi the Bitch Car, Car from
Hell and Tin Can with Wheels.
- Two
optimists named their cars Titanic. We also have Trouble,
The Hearse, Grunt, 8-ball, The Chicken, and Barfmobile.
- Some
other notables include: Beepbop, Boris Badanov, Carry
#2, Grocery Getter, Persephone, Saabena, Pimped-Out Mom-Mobile
and Beeheemyth (a van).
|
The
Allstate "You Are What You Drive" survey was conducted
for Allstate by RoperASW. Interviews with 2,500 car owners were
conducted online from August 8 to August 15, 2003. The survey
was conducted among an online population of U.S. car owners and
has been weighted to reflect the population of U.S. car owners
as a whole. The sampling error on the total sample is plus or
minus 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Sampling
error for sub-groups is higher.
MORE
INFORMATION: www.allstate.com |