Most American drivers believe they are safer than average behind the wheel, even as the large majority admit to risky habits. That gap between self-image and behavior matters for how auto insurers price and communicate risk.
Arity, the mobility data and analytics company owned by Allstate, surveyed 1,000 US drivers for a report released this month. It found that 85% consider themselves safer than average, while 82% said they had engaged in at least one potentially unsafe behavior in the previous three months.
The confidence appears remarkably durable. Among respondents who had received a speeding ticket or other violation in the past three years, 86% still rated themselves safer than average. That is slightly higher than the survey population overall.
How drivers judge risk also appears to depend on their own habits. Only 36% of respondents who admitted speeding said it makes driving less safe, compared with 69% of those who said they don't speed.
Gary Hallgren, president of Arity, said the results reflect ordinary human behavior rather than recklessness.
"Driving is something most of us do every day, but we rarely stop to think about the patterns we've developed over time. This survey shows just how human that is. We know certain behaviors are risky, yet in the moment, we do them anyway. A driving report can help reveal the patterns we may not see in ourselves, giving people a new way to understand how they really drive, not just how they think they drive."
Across several behaviors, respondents recognized the danger and did it anyway:
| Behavior | Say it makes driving less safe | Admit doing it |
|---|---|---|
| Speeding through a yellow light | 65% | 51% |
| Driving while very tired | 85% | 33% |
| Looking at or touching a smartphone | 90% | — (see triggers below) |
Everyday situations still prompted drivers to pick up the phone. The most common trigger was a call or message from family or friends, cited by 68% of respondents, followed by navigation notifications at 57%. Social media alerts drew 30% of drivers to their phones while behind the wheel, while ordering food and taking a photo or video each accounted for 25%, tied with boredom as a standalone reason.
The findings come against a mixed backdrop for road safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 36,640 people died in traffic crashes in 2025, a 6.7% decline from 2024, with the fatality rate falling to 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Distraction remains a persistent threat despite that improvement, however: NHTSA said one person is killed approximately every 2.5 hours in a distracted driving crash.
For carriers, the claims picture is shifting as well. LexisNexis Risk Solutions data on distracted driving and bodily injury costs showed distraction-related violations up 57% across all age groups since 2022, with bodily injury claims now accounting for more than a quarter of auto loss dollars.
The survey points to a clear opening for usage-based insurance (UBI), which prices coverage partly on how and how much a policyholder actually drives, measured through a smartphone app, plug-in device or connected car. Some 89% of respondents said savings or other benefits could make sharing their driving data with an insurer worthwhile. Another 83% said a driving score could reveal behaviors they might not notice themselves.
Understanding lags well behind that interest. Only 27% of respondents said they know what a driving score is. That knowledge gap falls largely to agents and brokers to close. Clients who are convinced they are above-average drivers may be surprised, or frustrated, when telematics data tells a different story at renewal.
Telematics has already moved well beyond a niche product. As IBA's analysis of how telematics is scaling in US auto insurance noted earlier this year, it is becoming a core component of underwriting, pricing and customer engagement. Carriers that treat it only as a pricing tool may miss much of its value, as industry leaders discussing insurer technology partnerships have argued. Agents, compliance teams and product design all need to be aligned for it to work.
For carriers, Arity's findings suggest the challenge is less about telling drivers what is safe and more about showing them how they actually drive.
Arity said the results point to an opportunity to give consumers more visibility into their own driving and more education about how driving behavior may factor into insurance.
