Nine Out of 10 San Antonians Find Motorists Driving More Aggressively.

Business Editors and Automotive/Insurance Writers

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2000

Nine out of 10 drivers in San Antonio are encountering aggressive drivers on the streets and highways of San Antonio, according to a survey recently completed by the San Antonio Police Department.

Sixty-six percent of a sample survey of more than 800 drivers said that driving in San Antonio had become somewhat or much more aggressive in the past 12 months and an equal percentage had encountered 1-5 incidents of aggressive driving in the week prior to the survey.

"Probably one of the more interesting things we learned from this survey is that San Antonians favor both education and enforcement to affect the level of aggressive driving we're seeing in San Antonio," said Chief Al Philippus of the San Antonio Police Department. "What's surprising is only 3 percent say driving in San Antonio is less aggressive. Clearly, motorists are concerned about the incidence of aggressive driving."

In April, the Police Department and San Antonio Municipal Courts launched Drive Smart(sm) -- Be a Cool Operator, which combines education, enforcement and judicial means to lower the incidence of aggressive driving. Since that time, San Antonio traffic officers have distributed Traffic Education and Enforcement Cards to drivers exhibiting aggressive driving behaviors or receiving traffic citations for violations such as speeding, weaving in traffic, tailgating or running red lights.

Dr. James, who has consulted on aggressive driving measures in other cities and states, said San Antonio is not alone in experiencing increasing levels of aggressive driving.

"The survey results indicate a lack of awareness on the part of many drivers that everyone, at some point, is driving aggressively," added Dr. James. "Clearly, if almost 90 percent of the survey respondents are encountering aggressive drivers, but only 54 percent say they are doing it, there's some denial going on among otherwise law-abiding citizens."

Dr. James added that a minority core of respondents don't define as aggressive driving any of the behaviors commonly identified as such by law-enforcement officials. For example, 29 percent do not consider "yelling, insulting, gesturing" as an example of aggressive driving. One in four (25 percent) do not consider speeding and frequent lane changing as aggressive behavior on the road.

About the survey -- SAFFE officers distributed surveys at area crime prevention programs and it was also made available on the San Antonio Police Department Web site during April and May. Dr. Leon James, a professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii also known as DrDriving, compiled and analyzed the results of the survey for the San Antonio Police Department. The sample was of 837 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent. Respondents were 64 percent male and 36 percent female with a majority having a high school degree or higher and 75 percent having 10 or more years of driving experience.

Evaluating driving in San Antonio -- Some 32 percent of survey respondents said driving in San Antonio during the past 12 months had become much more aggressive; 32 percent said driving was somewhat more aggressive; 29 percent about the same; six percent said driving was less aggressive or they couldn't characterize it at all.

How drivers rate their own behavior -- Survey respondents generally give themselves good marks for not engaging in aggressive driving behaviors. When asked to characterize their driving within the past 12 months, 36 percent said they were mostly non-aggressive; 18 percent were frequently non-aggressive; 37 percent were occasionally aggressive; 5 percent were frequently aggressive; and 3 percent were mostly aggressive.

How drivers rate behavior of others -- Respondents solidly characterized driving behavior in San Antonio as aggressive. Some 21 percent of respondents characterized other people's driving during the past 12 months as mostly aggressive; 35 percent described behaviors as frequently aggressive; and 32 percent as occasionally aggressive. Nine percent of survey respondents said driving was frequently or mostly non-aggressive.

Some additional findings from the survey:

-- Male and female respondents evaluate driving in San Antonio

differently. Women drivers perceive that San Antonio driving

in the past 12 months increased in aggressiveness between

somewhat more and much more. Male perception of driving

behaviors during the past 12 months falls between about the

same and somewhat more aggressive.

-- Men and women believe other drivers are more aggressive. Men

and women rate their own aggressiveness between frequently

non-aggressive and occasionally aggressive at the same time

ranking other drivers between occasionally and frequently

aggressive.

-- More experienced drivers tend to see themselves as

non-aggressive drivers. Drivers with more than 14 years of

driving experience ranked themselves lower on the scale of

aggressive driving while drivers with less than four years

experience were higher.

-- More than a majority of respondents have encountered

aggressive driving. Sixty-six percent of respondents have

experienced 1-5 incidents of aggressive driving in the week

prior to completing the survey. Twenty-four percent

experienced 6-10 incidents; 5 percent experienced 11-15; 1

percent experienced 16-20; and 4 percent experienced more than

20 incidents of aggressive driving.

Note to editors: Dr. Leon James maintains a Web site at http://DrDriving.org and is available for comment between 1:30-4 p.m. CST at 808/261-2382.