Study: Most drivers, not just young, are taking risks

Young drivers aren't alone in behaving badly on U.S. roads, a trend that could be contributing to a spike in highway deaths.

Well over half of drivers in every age group have texted behind the wheel, run a red light or driven faster than the speed limit in the last 30 days, according to a new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Younger drivers are the worst offenders. Eighty-eight percent of drivers ages 19 to 24 admitted to at least one of those behaviors. But even mature drivers skirted the rules more often researchers expected. For instance, 10 percent of drivers between 60 and 74 have texted or sent email from behind the wheel, while 37 percent of drivers over 75 said they'd driven through a light that had just turned red.

"It was a surprise that there were relatively high rates of these behaviors among the drivers we think of as safer," said Lindsay Arnold, a research associate with the AAA Foundation.

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