American Pulse™: 8 in 10 Think Revenge Terrorist Attack Likely; Majority Confident in U.S. National Security
Most Support Added Security, “No-Ride” Lists for Public Transportation
WORTHINGTON, OH – 5/13/11 – In response to Osama bin Laden’s death, 82.3% of Adults 18+ think it is somewhat/very likely that al-Qaida will plan a revenge terrorist attack on the United States, according to the latest American Pulse™ Survey of 5,323 respondents. This could explain why confidence in the economy failed to improve from last month, despite bin Laden’s demise.
Although lacking economic confidence, a majority of Adults 18+ (61.8%) said they are somewhat/very confident in U.S. national security efforts. 17.0% were not at all or not very confident and 21.3% were neutral.
Few Americans feel safer now that bin Laden is gone, which makes it no surprise that most Americans were in favor of heightened regulations and security measures across a range of public transportation methods. Similar to “no-fly” lists used at airports, a “no-ride” list would require passengers to purchase tickets ahead of time so names can be compared to terrorist watch lists. At least 6 in 10 Adults 18+ said they support “no-ride” lists for passenger trains, busses and subways:
In order to improve security against terrorist attacks on public transportation, would you support or oppose “no-ride” lists for the following? (Adults 18+)
Support Oppose
Passenger rail systems 73.4% 26.6%
Major bus systems 70.7% 29.3%
Local bus systems 62.7% 37.3%
Subway/metro systems 71.5% 28.5%
Source: American Pulse™ May-11
For a complimentary report, including gender and age segments: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/ampulse051311
Most Americans (73.4%) would like train passengers to face more scrutiny before boarding, but fewer (62.7%) support this same level of inspection on their local busses.
Other key findings on Americans’ reactions to bin Laden’s death:
- 81.3% said, because he was a wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden’s death was just. 9.7% said he should have been arrested and tried while 9.0% weren’t sure.
- 1 in 5 (21.9%) said use by the military of the name “Geronimo” to refer to bin Laden during the raid was offensive and insulting to Native Americans. 67.0% said it was just a code name—no insult intended.
- 23.3% celebrated the death of bin Laden. Further, 40.4% said the celebrations were appropriate while 28.8% thought they were out of line (30.8% don’t know).
- At airports, 40.0% think all infant’s diapers should be checked for bombs, along with any places where a bomb could be hidden. Slightly more (41.5%) think this is ridiculous (18.5% aren’t sure).
- 70.8% feel gas prices exceeding $4/gal is a more important issue than the capture of Osama bin Laden (21.6%). These high gas prices likely contribute to Americans’ disapproval of a new law that would tax drivers by the mile.
- See what else Americans have to say about the proposed law that would tax drivers by the mile in this special SlideShare report: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/SS051311
American Pulse™
The American Pulse™ Survey is collected online by BIGresearch® twice a month exclusively utilizing SSI’s U.S. panel covering topics such as politics, pop culture and the economy. 5,323 respondents participated in the 1st May American Pulse conducted 5/9-5/11/2011. Margin of error is +/- 1.4%. www.biginsight.com
Survey Sampling International (SSI)
Survey Sampling International (www.surveysampling.com) is the premier global provider of sampling solutions for survey research. SSI reaches respondents in 72 countries via Internet, telephone and mobile/wireless. Client services include questionnaire design consultation, programming and hosting, and data processing. SSI serves more than 2,000 clients, including 48 of the top 50 research organizations. Founded in 1977, SSI has 17 offices in 15 countries.
BIGresearch
Chrissy Wissinger
chrissy@bigresearch.com
Randi Honkonen
randi@bigresearch.com
614.846.0146
SSI
Ilene Siegalovsky
Ilene_Siegalovsky@surveysampling.com
203-567-7230
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