What happened to the good old-fashioned ‘don’t text and drive’ rule? A lot, it seems. A recent alarming AT&T study has revealed that 70% of drivers, instead of keeping their eyes on the road ahead, focus their immediate attention on the smartphone in their hand. And not just for quick texting, either! Apparently, it is no longer enough to check the odd urgent message or respond with a one-syllable word – people have now moved on to full-on emailing and surfing the net, even checking their Facebook and snapping selfies!
Most Popular Car Activities (Other Than Driving)
More than 2,000 questionees shared their disconcerting texting-while-driving habits. Evidently, 61% regularly text while at the wheel, 33% find that time to be more than suitable for emailing, 27% scroll down their Facebook News Feed while steering, 17% take selfies, 14% tweet and 11% resort to snapchatting.
Too Addicted to Social Media to Think About Safety
And if the previous statistics haven’t given you the heebie-jeebies, these might:
- 62% of people reported they keep their smartphones at hand ready for use at any point while driving;
- 30% stated they tweet all the time while at the wheel;
- and 22% admitted that the reason for browsing social networks is addiction and inability to tear themselves away from their Facebook, Instagram or Twitter profiles.
AT&T disclosed they conducted the survey in order to accentuate the dangers of using phones while driving, promote safety and encourage impatient drivers slash Instagrammers to put their phones away lest they regret their decision for years to come.
