A recent survey shows that American motorists and car owners still have a generally positive outlook on driving, and they still consider that their cities to be “drivable” even when the daily commute is a troublesome thing to live with everyday.
According to The Hartford 2010 Drivability Survey done by auto insurance company GfK Roper, the general population of American drivers are a bit more positive about driving around their city with their car as compared to the findings last year. Also, drivers believe that their local officials are doing everything they could to properly maintain and make the city street a safe place to drive in. Around ¾ of those surveyed says that other drivers like them are courteous while on the road.
However, around 2/3 of the drivers in the survey says that traffic is worsening in their areas. Majority of those drivers says that the roads they live in were not built to handle the volume of traffic nowadays. Also, the drivers spend about an average of 14 minutes waiting amidst traffic out of the average 26 minutes of getting to work. This situation about the daily traffic is a great bother and frustrating experience for most drivers, and many of the drivers surveyed say that they usually try to make plans on how to avoid the traffic.
The survey findings also show that drivers and commuters have found ways to pass the time while waiting in traffic, in which over 86% of drivers admit that they perform at least one activity while waiting behind the wheel. Some of these activities include: eating, drinking, text messaging, making a call on one’s phone, and others. The first two mentioned activities are the most common pastimes, which are respectively done by 76% and 67% of the surveyed drivers. Also, 25% of the commuters could multitask to do at least three more other activities while waiting.
According to the vice president of The Hartford, Kathleen Bromage, driving is an important part of the American citizen’s everyday life that it could affect their safety, work, and even outlook in life. Bromage also added that by understanding the driving experience of ordinary people the company would also be able to understand how to keep the drivers and their cars safe from harm.
The Hartford is an insurance company that is recognized for its expert and ethical services, working to protect the assets and income of households and businesses alike.
