There’s no doubt that texting and driving is a dangerous activity, but it seems that we’re not getting the message. According to a recent AT&T survey as part of its It Can Wait campaign, the company found that drivers are doing a lot more behind the wheel besides texting. The study showed that while texting and emailing are the most frequent activities performed while driving, nearly 4-in-10 drivers check their social media accounts, 3-in-10 surf the web, and 1-in-10 engage in video chatting.
“When we launched It Can Wait five years ago, we pleaded with people to realize that no text is worth a life,” said Lori Lee, AT&T’s global marketing officer. “The same applies to other smartphone activities that people are doing while driving. For the sake of you and those around you, please keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone.”
AT&T is using the findings to expand their It Can Wait campaign in hopes of raising awareness across the U.S. through social media and a virtual reality tour. The list of activities people perform on their smartphones while driving is a pretty lengthy list.
Smartphone activities people say they do while driving include:
- 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%)
Other unsettling findings include:
- 62% keep their smartphones within easy reach while driving.
- 30% of people who post to Twitter while driving do it “all the time.”
- 22% who access social networks while driving cite addiction as a reason.
- Of those who shoot videos behind the wheel, 27% think they can do it safely while driving
Given that the majority of jurisdictions in North America have distracted driving laws, you would think we’d be smartening up. Apparently we’re not.
What do you think about AT&T’s findings? Which of these are you guilty of yourself? Let us know in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smartphone-use-while-driving-grows-beyond-texting–to-social-media-web-surfing-selfies-video-chatting-300085207.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: PR Newswire[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
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