Area drivers get bad marks in poll
They behave worse than cyclists, pedestrians and scooter riders, most say
Nearly 6 in 10 Washington-area residents say drivers frequently violate traffic laws in the region, more than say the same about pedestrians, bicyclists or electric scooter riders, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.
Perhaps surprisingly, drivers are more likely to fault other drivers as scofflaws than they are to complain about other road users. And while frequent cyclists are critical of drivers, they are nearly as likely as drivers to say their fellow cyclists often break the rules of the road.
Overall, the poll finds 59 percent of Washington-area residents say drivers violate traffic laws very often or almost all of the time, compared with 49 percent who say the same of bicyclists and 48 percent of pedestrians. Scooter riders receive slightly less criticism in the region overall, with 43 percent saying they violate traffic laws very often or more.
The results suggest low confidence in the region’s drivers at the same time there has been an uptick in traffic fatalities in the area —