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American Morning

Hitting the Road: Is Your City Safe to Drive In?

Aired May 25, 2001 - 10:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: On the topic of safe driving: Where you live is almost as important as how you drive. Or perhaps the cause and effect is reversed on that. Who knows?

A new listing takes both into account. It lists the cities where you are safest behind the wheel and the cities where you are statistically least safe. And I think you know who you are.

Joining us now is Bill Heenan. He is the president of the Steel Alliance, a consumer side of the steel industry that focuses on auto safety.

I've just got to ask you very quickly, Bill, why is the steel industry involved in this survey?

BILL HEENAN, THE STEEL ALLIANCE: Well, the steel industry probably provides the element of safety in your car through the frame that protects you in your car.

But we kind of own safety. Therefore, we think it's our responsibility to get the information out to consumers of how they can become less aggressive drivers and be more courteous on the road.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's carry on. Let's steel ourselves for the good and the bad news -- first, the good news: The cities where, all things considered, people are driving rather in a civil manner are -- drumroll, please -- Chicago, Dallas, Detroit and Cleveland.

Why these cities? What -- is there a common thread which unites them?

HEENAN: Well, I think one of the common threads: It's the Midwest. One of the common threads is that the streets are almost in squares rather than around hills, around water. Even Chicago and Detroit are a square ratio of city streets.

And the other thing I think as well is, remember that these were the consumers themselves rating themselves. They were asked: What did they think was aggressive driving? For example, they thought that going 10 miles over the speed limit was aggressive driving, or cutting in without using your indicator was aggressive driving.

O'BRIEN: Bill, Bill, 10 miles over the speed limit is aggressive? HEENAN: Aggressive. If you're doing...

O'BRIEN: That sets the bar a little low, doesn't it?

HEENAN: Well, if you're doing 35 in a 25, that may be the bottom, but that's what consumers said. And it's interesting. That's what they said. And then they came back and gave us a Jekyll-and-Hyde answer in that they said: Well, you know what? I'm part of that problem. I'm one of those aggressive drivers I was talking about.

O'BRIEN: Do you think they were being honest?

HEENAN: Yes, we do, because -- you know, it was interesting. We found that, for an example, the worst city in the United States was Boston. And...

O'BRIEN: Oh, you just stole our thunder.

HEENAN: I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, let's move onto the graphics, shall we? Let's show our -- there -- Boston, Massachusetts gets the big F, a complete goose egg.

Having lived there myself, Bill, and having tried to drive through that Haymarket intersection, where six roads converge, no stoplights and it really is a Darwinian thing there -- and I think Bostonians relish in it, almost -- and then Washington, Miami, Los Angeles.

What is the thread which unites these poor performers?

HEENAN: Well, I think the thread is two things. One, they're both on coasts. Secondly, there is an awful lot of construction going on in each of those cities.

O'BRIEN: Coasts? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What about this coast thing, before you get onto the construction issue?

HEENAN: Well, we've noticed that Midwest drivers seem to be more courteous. They seem to be more cautious. And we noticed that East Coast drivers seem to be much more in a hurry, much more on their cell phone, which really leads to other people becoming aggressive, because they are not paying attention to the road.

And that's really our message today, is: Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel. And if you do those two things, and if you're -- it's OK to be late. And if you're courteous to others and follow the golden rule, we are going to reverse this trend and make those four cities part of the first four -- and the favorable driving and less aggressive driving across America. And you won't need that steel frame.

O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, I still don't get it -- proximity to water. And that makes it more aggressive. HEENAN: Well, I think it's also proximity to their jobs and going, going, going, going. And we've seen that over and over again, that, in the Midwest, where you have a little more of a "I will get there and it's OK to be late" attitude, you have less aggressive driving.

Where you have people in a rush, hitting the pedal to the medal and going through that red light, you have more aggressive and therefore more fatalities.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill Heenan has validated what we always knew: Folks from the Midwest are the nicest people in the world.

Thanks very much for being with us. And thank you for sharing with us the good and the bad news about driving across the country. Have a safe holiday.

HEENAN: Thank you.

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