A recent survey found that the nation's drivers often fail to take their own advice concerning road safety, Online Auto Insurance News reports.

According to the source, 97 percent of respondents told researchers that driving after drinking alcohol is unacceptable, and more than 75 percent said doing so constitutes a serious threat to their own personal safety, yet 21 percent of respondents reported doing so within the past month.

Similarly, 23 percent of survey respondents said they had driven without a seat belt in the past month and 19 percent reported doing so multiple times, despite 86 percent saying that driving without a seat belt is an unacceptable safety risk. This research builds on similar past findings, according to the news source. One researcher noted that, while this year was the safest in terms of roadway fatalities since 1949, there was still an average of one death every 16 minutes nationwide.

Driving while being drowsy, drunk or distracted can significantly increase the risks of the road, according to the news source, and research indicates that people who know better still engage in such behaviors. Aside from the risk of injury and death, collisions cost the national economy a significant amount each year, and contribute to higher auto insurance rates for consumers.