Texting while driving
is dangerous but US drivers do it anyway: poll
From Washington News
August 07 , 2007
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nine out of 10 Americans feel that sending text
messages from a mobile phone while driving is as dangerous as drinking
and driving, but admit to doing it anyway, a poll published on Tuesday
showed.
Although 89 percent of the 2,049 adults polled online by Harris
Interactive said texting while driving was dangerous and should be
banned, and 92 percent said it was as bad as having a few drinks
and driving, 66 percent of respondents admitted to reading text messages
while at the wheel.
Slightly fewer -- 57 percent -- said they write and
send messages while driving, the survey, conducted between June 29
and July 3, showed.
Respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 were the
most likely to send or read text messages while at the wheel: 72
percent said they sent messages from their mobile phones and 79 percent
that they read them while in control of a vehicle.
The lowest rate of mobile phone texting while driving
was seen in the 55-plus age group, the survey, which was commissioned
by the California-based voice messaging service provider, Pinger
Inc., showed.
A study conducted last year by the Virginia Tech
Transportation Institute and US National Highway Safety Administration
found that driver distraction was to blame in almost 80 percent of
crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes.
The main cause of driver distraction was mobile
telephone use, according to the study cited by the Insurance Information
Institute (III) on its website.
