New Mexico Attitude & Awareness Survey on Highway Safety Issues

A police officer has pulled over a car and is speaking to the driver on the side of the road

Challenge

What are the attitudes and reported behaviors of drivers in New Mexico on specific areas of highway safety?

The New Mexico Highway Safety Office under the New Mexico Department of Transportation was looking to learn more about the attitudes and behaviors of its community members across the state and which of those communities needed more emphasis in particular areas of traffic/highway safety.

Solution

NORC surveyed customers at New Mexico’s 12 Motor Vehicle Department offices.

NORC administered the New Mexico Highway Safety Survey to 1,023 customers at the 12 Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) offices in the state. Working with New Mexico state officials, NORC completed a specific number of surveys at each MVD office with New Mexico drivers to reflect the proportion of the New Mexico population represented by each MVD office.

Setting up tables at each MVD office, NORC approached customers asking them to complete the Highway Safety Survey (both English and Spanish versions were available). Patrons who completed the survey received a NM Office of Safety Programs insulated tote bag provided by the New Mexico Highway Safety Office as a thank you for their time. The survey response data were processed and analyzed with NORC presenting its findings in a final report and presentation to the NM Office of Safety Programs.

Result

Our survey found a wide range of traffic safety awareness and behaviors.

Responses to most questions in the state survey were similar to responses in national surveys. Self-reported seat belt use was high (91 percent) and the perceived risk of being ticketed if not wearing a seat belt was high. The same is true for drinking and driving. Only 6 percent of New Mexico drivers reported driving when they thought they were over the legal alcohol limit in the past 30 days. Most drivers thought the chances of being stopped by police if a driver was alcohol-impaired was 50 percent, compared to national estimates of 10 percent. Almost 50 percent reported going through a sobriety checkpoint, which is much higher than national surveys. The public information slogan to reduce impaired driving in New Mexico (ENDWI) was recognized by 61 percent of the drivers.

Areas of traffic safety that could be focused on by the NM Office of Safety were that only about half of motorcycle riders (53 percent) wear helmets every time they ride. Also, very few bicyclists always wear a bicycle helmet when riding (23 percent). Potential policy implications would be that a mandatory helmet usage law for all ages would likely increase helmet use in the state. The two slogans (BKLUP B4UDRIVE and BKLUPALWAYS) used to increase seat belt use in New Mexico were recognized by only 1 out of 10 drivers. Additional findings were reported to NM state officials and available below.