Even Oprah's No Phone Zone pledge drive doesn't seem to be helping drivers feel any safer on the roads these days. In a study released today, 52 percent of drivers said they feel less safe on the roads now than they did five years ago.

The 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found the leading reason cited by American drivers was distracted driving, with 88 percent of motorists rating drives who text and email as a "very serious threat" to their safety.

"As mobile technology evolves at a breakneck pace, more and more people rightly fear and recognize that distracted driving – texting, e-mails, phone calls and more – is a growing threat on the road. But, unfortunately, this new data confirms the "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude is prevalent throughout much of the driving public," said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger in a press release.

The study showed that the majority of drivers (62 percent) feel that talking on a cell phone is a very serious threat to safety, but they do not always behave accordingly or believe that others share these views. In fact, nearly 70 percent of those surveyed admitted to talking on their phones and 24 percent said they read or sent text messages or emails while driving in the previous month.

To help change the current culture of complacency, the AAA Foundation and AAA are holding their second annual Heads Up Driving Week, from Sept. 26-Oct. 2, to encourage drivers to drive distraction free.

Meanwhile, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) will be among the organizations at the 2010 Distracted Driving Summit being held tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

Since last year's Distracted Driving Summit, 12 states have passed texting bans, according to the GHSA.