In North Carolina, it is illegal to text while driving…and yet, 60% of us admit to doing it. (And you know that more people do it who won’t admit to it.) But now, a new survey from AT&T–the company that brought us the “It Can Wait” campaign five years ago–shows that the problem extends beyond texting.
According to an article from WRAL TechWire, about 7 in 10 people admit to a variety of smartphone activities that are a danger on the road.
The survey found the following percentage of drivers participated in these specific activities while driving:
- Text (61%)
- Email (33%)
- Surf the net (28%)
- Facebook (27%)
- Snap a selfie/photo (17%)
- Twitter (14%)
- Instagram (14%)
- Shoot a video (12%)
- Snapchat (11%)
- Video chat (10%)
Among the Twitter users, the survey found that 30 percent of those posting tweets do it “all the time.” [WRAL TechWire]
In case you’re thinking that this is a problem only of young people, think again. The survey included folks between the ages of 16 and 65.
The National Safety Council estimates that about 1.6 million accidents each year are caused by distracted driving.
AT&T is responding by launching additional awareness campaigns through Twitter, Google, Bose, and Samsung. Let’s hope that, this time, it works. Please…remind everyone that, when you start the car, you should put down the phone.
Learn more about the AT&T program at http://www.ItCanWait.com
