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Driving Miss Crazy

Adventures, observations and never short of an automotive opinion.

Aug 12, 2007 - Texting while driving

89% of Americans would like to see texting while driving outlawed according to a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive, umm, hired by a company called Pinger that of course has a solution allowing you to "stay in touch" with your text while behind the wheel. 

At any rate, let's set aside the reason for the marketing, ummm, survey and get on with some of the interesting results.

-66% of drivers who use text messaging admitted to reading while behind the wheel

-57% of the same population admitted to sending from behind the wheel (64% of these were between the ages of 18-34 with only 6% north of 55 years old)

-Men and women are equal opportunity offenders when it comes to texting while driving

Talking, texting... oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be driving, that's it!  Sorry, I got a bit distracted there.

7:38 pm | Categories: traffic safety
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Comments
networkguy - Dec 30, 2007 8:22 pm
I don't believe it's a question of cost. It seems to be the preferred mode of communication for a generation. I swear they'd rather text than talk, regardless of the situation. I personally find the cell phone a very effective tool for ummm.. talking on the phone. I use Bluetooth because it's convenient and I get to use both hands for driving (kind of necessary with a MT).
mishaa - Dec 8, 2007 5:22 pm
I don't think any more laws are needed. Natural selection will take care of drivers who don't understand the basic stuff...
genius163 - Nov 28, 2007 11:52 am
Guilty, but when I am "driving" approximately 1 mph on my way to work, what else am I going to do?
irismg - Sep 14, 2007 7:03 am
I hate polls that say "85% of Americans" do this or that when I know that's not true, mainly because they never ask ME. What they should be saying is "85% of Americans ASKED" do this or that, and they should admit that the 317 people they find to ask isn't representative of 300 million people. I hate polls in general because people accept them as truth. Now if they HAD asked me, I'd say that I'd never heard of texting while driving before, that I hope they wait until there's a stop light if they have to do it at all, and that they should discourage that in the driver's ed courses. In fact, I think the driver's test for the permit should be in a manual shift car, and a second more difficult driver's test administered at 21 years of age, and those who have not mastered or improved the score on the first test would have a mark on their license like those of us who have corrected vision have to have. That's probably not going to happen here, that's something Europeans are more likely to embrace than Americans. Perhaps a viable solution is some sort of speech-to-text technology that lets a person talk into the telephone like normal, but instead of sending voice data, it sends text data at a lower charge.
buggsz - Aug 24, 2007 4:40 pm
Texting is "Dangerous" at the least! Just use common sense! How can you enjoy,"any" Car, if you get killed or injured in an accident, texting or "watching" the texter? (a real word?). So, have fun in your, Any kind of car...preferably, used really fun, or, very old, many miles....or New to you! I love cars and car people! I have just purchased a used Dodge Magnum, for "Work Travel", and love it! I own others, like them all! Enjoy your Car(s)! Buggs, Norfolk, Virginia.
paclark01 - Aug 19, 2007 7:06 am
I hate to admit that I sent text messages while driving. It stopped after I almost rear-ended another car. It's stupid and irresponsible but there really is anything that can be done to reduce or stop text messaging while driving. Recently, I installed bluetooth in my car to respond to calls. Otherwise, I do not touch the wireless phone while driving.
kurtdaniel - Aug 17, 2007 5:29 pm
This problem might be solved by lower cost of Mobile phone services. If a call from a cellphone costs lower than a text message, users esp. drivers will not have an effort in sending or receiving text while driving. They just have to receive calls which in fact more convenient than sending text message. And this imposes less danger to drivers because it requires less concentration. Their focus will remain on their way. A suggestion from Blower Motor Canada for added safety.
pf_flyer - Aug 14, 2007 10:15 am
It's sad that I can see a day when we'll have to pass a law making it mandatory that you actually have to drive while behind the wheel!
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