California Traffic Safety Survey 2022: Speeding and Aggressive Driving Biggest Safety Concern

June 1, 2022
Submitted by Lisa Peterson

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to release the 2022 California Traffic Safety Survey led by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W). This study was conducted on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley.  

Speeding and Aggressive Driving Biggest Safety Concern

Speeding and aggressive driving was the biggest safety concern for California drivers (75.0% of surveyed drivers) according to the 2022 California Traffic Safety Survey. This was followed by concerns around distracted driving because of texting (71.5%) and drunk driving (67.4%). 

Table showing the responses to the question "In your opinion, what are the biggest safety problems on California roadways?"

Survey responses to "In your opinion, what are the biggest safety problems on California roadways?"

Data has been collected for the traffic safety survey since 2010, and transitioned from in-person interview (intercept) surveys to an online survey in 2020. A total of 2,768 responses were collected in April of 2022. Overall travel behavior and travel mode and frequency of travel were likely affected since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and may have contributed to different perceptions of travel safety. The 2022 survey also added a few new survey items describing ways to increase safety for all road users, based on the Safe System approach introduced by the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

Highlights of Key Findings

Explore a selection of key findings from the 2022 survey below:

  • “Speeding/Aggressive Driving” was the biggest safety concern for 75.0% of surveyed drivers of the panel, followed by “Distracted Driving because of TEXTING” and “Drunk Driving,” mentioned by 71.5% and 67.4% drivers, respectively.

  • “Aggressive Driving / Road Rage” was the most frequently given response as the biggest behavioral change noticed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  • Consistent with prior data collection waves, “Texting or Checking Phone While Driving” was reported as the most serious distraction overall by 71.9% of all respondents.

  • A little more than half (50.2%) of drivers in 2022 indicate that they have been hit or nearly hit by a driver who was talking or texting on a cell phone, which is similar to the 2021 data. 

  • About a third of surveyed drivers (33.3%) believe that it is safe to drive 10 miles per hour over the speed limit on freeways, similar to 2021 survey findings. 

  • The vast majority of surveyed drivers (73.9%) do not believe that it is safe to drive over the speed limit on residential streets. This finding is a significant 22.2% increase compared to 2021.

  • Overall, almost half or more than half of the respondents rated the five factors of the Safe System Approach as “Very Important, and “Improve safe streets design to design roads that support all road users, including drivers, pedestrian, bicyclists and transit” was the highest-rated factor overall.

  • More than half of the respondents (52.9%) selected “Driver Behavior” as the most important factor resulting in traffic injuries/fatalities, followed by “Speeding Vehicles,” selected by 26.4% of all drivers surveyed. 

  • When asked whether they believe it is legal to ride bicycles on roadways when there is no bike lane, 68.2% of surveyed drivers believed so, compared to 62.2% respondents in 2021, a significant increase of 6.0%.

  • There was a significant 6.7% decrease in respondents who were “Very Comfortable” or “Somewhat Comfortable” sharing the road with bicyclists when there is a bike lane. 

  • In a newly added question in the 2022 survey, 56.4% of respondents answered they are comfortable sharing the road with bicyclists “When there is a protected bike lane divider,” with a similar distribution among California regions. 

  • The most reported safety problems experienced as a pedestrian or bicyclist remained “Cars going too fast,” with a similar distribution between California regions, and consistent with previous years’ data.

Read more about the findings and download the full 2022 survey.

For past reports, view the California Traffic Safety Survey for 2021 and 2020, the California Speeding and Aggressive Driving Study for 2019, and the California Traffic Safety Survey for 2018.

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