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A new AAA report finds younger millennials top the list of the worst-behaved drivers.

The report was done by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. It found:

  • Those between ages 19 and 24 admit to some type of risky driving behavior in the past 30 days, texting while driving, speeding, and running red lights.
  •  50 percent of young millennials admitted to running a red light in the past month.
  •  79% of drivers between the ages of 25 and 39 admitted to the 30-day risky driving behavior.
  •  Drivers aged 16 to 18 reported the risky driving about 69 percent of the time, on a surprising par with drivers aged 75 and older.

"Alarmingly, some of the drivers ages 19 to 24 believe that their dangerous driving behavior is acceptable," said David Yang, the foundation's executive director said.

And AAA spokeswoman Tracy Noble says the number of drivers from all ages who confess to taking chances is still way too high.

"Those actions have deadly consequences. It (driving) does involve a ton of concentration, and previous studies done by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers, while they engage in ... texting or looking at their phone, they have what is called a 'hangover' from that, that can last up to 27 seconds because their mind is still on that previous task. So they are then not concentrating on the roadway for almost 30 seconds. And you can travel a very large distance in 30 seconds."

"I think that we need to just continue to bring this to the forefront and continue drive the message home that distracted driving and multitasking behind the wheel is not something that is acceptable."

The National Safety Council reported Wednesday that 40,200 people were killed on U.S. highways last year, a 6 percent increase from 2015.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.

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