The 9 Most Dangerous Things Drivers Do. NHTSA estimates that there are 660,000 distracted drivers on the road most of the time. The federal government has responded by pressuring state. Young people are the most likely to be involved in a speeding-related accident, with drivers ages 15-20 the most frequently cited demographic to be cited for the offense, as noted by the NHTSA. Avoid this high-risk habit by knowing the rules of the road, even before beginning to drive.

(William Howard/Getty Images) Working in traffic enforcement for a quarter of a century has exposed RCMP Cpl. Chris Little to bad driving in all of its manifestations. Recently, though, he’s noticed a concerning, and deadly, trend: the self-preoccupied driver in a steel-and-glass bubble, oblivious to the outside world.

The telltale texter (head down, stopped on a green light) is the least of it. Cheers drink to that rihanna mp3 download. Little, an officer with Strathcona Traffic Services in Strathcona County, Alta., has pulled over drivers brushing their teeth, applying makeup, even reading a novel. “A 300-page book, balanced on the steering wheel,” he says. Car-as-mobile-kitchen is another theme: he pulled over one man eating a bowl of cereal while trying to drive with his knees; another man was eating waffles from a plate with a knife and fork. Then there was the solo female driver taking driver distraction to a new level: “A call came in that a vehicle was driving erratically,” Little says. When I pulled her over, her clothing was around her knees and she was flushed. You get the picture.” She was charged with careless driving.

It’s a roadscape familiar to Angelo DiCicco, general manager of Young Drivers of Canada (GTA). Motorists merge from four lanes into one as they enter the Lions Gate Bridge to drive into Vancouver, B.C., on July 15, 2011. Traffic congestion in most major Canadian cities is getting worse, according to a traffic index compiled by a firm that specializes in navigation and mapping products.

TomTom’s fifth annual traffic index suggests the average commuter lost 84 hours in 2014 while delayed in traffic in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Some solace for drivers can be taken from statistics that reveal a decrease in deaths from automobile accidents over the past decade, in good part due to improvements in car design that reduce the impact of rear-end collisions. But it has never been a more dangerous time to be a pedestrian, bicyclist or motorcyclist; for them, deaths from automotive collision have risen in the same period.

Even standing on the sidewalk isn’t safe; last year, four people were taken to hospital when a car plowed into a bus station in a Toronto suburb. Aggressive, thoughtless driving is not new, says psychologist Leon James, a pioneer in the field of “driver psychology.” References to “road rage” date to ancient Rome, which had a law against “furious driving,” the University of Hawaii professor says. Comparison between North American driving habits and an empire in decline are appropriate. As James sees it, the rise of a selfish roadway culture is not only dangerous but culturally corrosive: “It’s anti-social, even immoral to expose others to risk.” The evidence is plentiful. Consider ’s widely circulated Facebook post written last year after her husband died of a heart attack; the Facebook COO recounts the “unbearably slow” trip to the hospital in an ambulance because drivers refused to get out of the way. She implored drivers to do what is both legally and morally required: yield way to emergency vehicles.

Cars blocking emergency vehicles is a huge problem on Canadian roads as well, says Little. “And it’s getting worse.” No tale illustrates the spirit of driver entitlement better than that of Jourdan Bancroft, a 25-year-old woman pulled over at 8:20 p.m. On an Ontario highway last July for driving 150 km/h in an 80 km/h zone; she was charged with road racing. Her explanation for putting her life and others at risk? She told the arresting officer she wanted to get to her cottage to “see the sunset.” The story elicited outrage. But in a small way, every driver could relate.

A Greek taxi driver watches the 2014 World Cup Group C soccer match between Japan and Greece, in Athens June 20, 2014. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters) How we behave on roads is culturally determined, says James—a confluence of technology, economics, sociology and psychology. A major factor is itself, specifically “improvements,” even at the low end, that make cars feel like safe, screen-filled, multi-tasking way stations, a place to text, chat on the phone, eat, even be entertained; in late December, Ontario Provincial Police stopped a man driving over 160 km/h on Highway 401 near Brockville, Ont., watching a movie on a screen taped to his dashboard. He was charged with distracted driving and stunt driving. One telling casualty is the stick shift, a driving feature requiring hands-on focus. Only nine per cent of cars sold in Canada have manual transmissions, down from 35 per cent in 1980, according to IHS Automotive.