Despite studies to the contrary, the article below states that teens think driving under the influence is more risky than texting. Interesting.
More teens think drunk driving can lead to a fatal crash than texting while behind the wheel, according to a survey done by Harris Interactive for State Farm.
"Fewer teens view texting while driving as leading to fatal consequences as compared to drinking while driving," State Farm said in a news release. "Of 14- to 17-year-olds who intend to have or already have a driver’s license, the survey found that 36 percent strongly agree that if they regularly text and drive they could be killed one day. In contrast, the majority of teens (55 percent) strongly agree that drinking while driving could be fatal."
Among the 697 teens surveyed, 63 percent said they "strongly agree" they could get into an accident if they text and drive, vs. 78 percent who "strongly agree" an accident could happen if they drink and drive, State Farm said.
"The awareness gap becomes more pronounced among teens who admit to texting while driving versus teens who refrain from the practice. Among teens that have never texted while driving, 73 percent strongly agree they will get into an accident if they text and drive. Yet among teens that admit to texting while driving, only 52 percent strongly agree they will get into an accident as a result of the practice," the agency said.
"Aspiring" and current teen drivers also seem to think the time they need to react to "narrowly avoid an accident are better texting while driving versus drinking while driving. With texting while driving, 55 percent of these teens agree they will have some situations when they almost get into an accident but will recover just in time. This compares to 36 percent of these teens who agree they can recover just in time in situations where they are drinking and driving."
Distracted driving remains in the U.S. "an epidemic," federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Bloomberg News, but traffic deaths tied to sending or reading text messages, talking on the phone, or even eating while driving decreased 6 percent last year from the previous year.
In an e-mail to Bloomberg, LaHood said that traffic deaths tied to distracted driving decreased 6 percent last year from the previous year, but said the numbers still show that "distracted driving remains an epidemic in America, and they are just the tip of the iceberg."
Bloomberg reported that "Crashes linked to drivers being distracted behind the wheel caused 5,474 deaths last year, down from 5,838 a year earlier and accounting for 16 percent of all road fatalities in 2009, unchanged from the previous year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."
Distracted driving isn't just a teen problem, of course, adults are also guilty of the dangerous habit as well. In Portland last week, a 40-year-old city bus driver was caught on video by a passenger, reading a Kindle while driving Interstate 5. The drive was "immediately pulled off of his route after TriMet received several complaints, according to TriMet spokeswoman Bekki Witt. He was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation."
Read the entire article: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/20/5143788-survey-teens-think-drunk-driving-more-risky-than-texting
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