CAA Study: Ontario Drivers Are Increasingly Dangerous at the Wheel

It’s not getting any better on the road as far as driving behaviour goes. As Ontario drivers are getting back to their normal lives after the pandemic, a new study conducted by DIG Insights on behalf of CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) says that a greater portion of them have witnessed unsafe driving behaviours in the past year. Ninety-eight percent of drivers, to be exact.

This is up three percent from last year’s numbers.

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Ontario drivers aren’t feeling safer on the roads, either. The study also says that six percent fewer drivers are feeling safe on our roads, but more specifically on highways with speed limits of 100 km/h.

"Ontario police services continue to report significant amounts of speeding, stunt and aggressive driving. Although the pandemic amplified the awareness, the issue was growing well before that," says Michael Stewart, community relations consultant, Government and Community Relations, CAA SCO.

Speeding is the Predominant Factor

The most common dangerous behaviour witnessed was speeding, which was underlined by about half of the survey's respondents. This is followed by aggressive driving, unsafely changing lanes and distracted driving.

On the other hand, 58 percent admitted to engaging in one or more dangerous driving behaviour.

Forty-three percent of Ontario drivers admitted to speeding, 17 percent say they've driven distracted, eight percent say they've made unsafe lane changes and six percent have driven aggressively.

The government has introduced tougher fines and penalties in 2021 thanks to the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act.

But while most motorists believe photo radars are part of the solution, one in three Ontario drivers say they try to avoid roads that have photo radar, and 43 percent say they accelerate after passing a photo radar camera.