2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index: U.S. Public Opinion Survey

A nationally-representative telephone survey of 2,501 U.S. residents aged 16 and older, conducted from April 15 to May 12, 2009. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety sponsored this second annual survey to assess key indicators of traffic safety culture. The average interview length was 15.8 minutes, and the survey was conducted in English and Spanish via landline and cellular telephone.

Use Cases

• Analyze public perceptions of traffic safety issues based on survey questions about risk and prevention.
• Model demographic factors influencing attitudes towards traffic safety based on respondent age and location stratification.
• Assess the prevalence of specific risky driving behaviors based on self-reported data from the survey.

Strengths

• Nationally-representative sample of 2,501 U.S. residents, providing a broad perspective.
• Survey methodology included both landline and cellular telephone samples to improve coverage.
• Stratified sampling oversampled rural counties, potentially offering better insights into non-metropolitan areas.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from 2009; societal attitudes and technology (e.g., smartphone use) have likely shifted since collection.

Provenance

Source

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, conducted by Abt SRBI Inc.

Collection Method

Nationally-representative telephone survey with random digit dialing for landlines and random sampling for cell phones.

Time Range

April 15, 2009 to May 12, 2009

Geography

United States