No officer, I wasn't texting. I was just taking a selfie! AT&T recently conducted a survey to find out how people are using their phones while driving. According to AT&T, seven out of ten drivers fiddle with their smartphones while behind the wheel, and it's not just to text.
This statistic may or may not come as a surprise to you. The fact that 70% of people use their phones while driving means that there's a decent chance that you’re one of those people. What’s startling is how people are using their phones rather than how many.
2,067 Americans between the ages of 16 and 65 who use their smartphones while driving at least once per day were asked what they do on their phones. Here are the numbers:
- 61% said they send or read texts
- 33% said they send or read emails
- 28% browse the Internet
- 27% check Facebook
- 17% are taking selfies
- 14% are on Twitter
- 14% are on Instagram
- 12% record a video
- 11% are using Snapchat
- 10% are using video chat
These numbers add up to be well over 100%, meaning that many of the people who were surveyed do more than one of the things on the list.
You may notice that talking on the phone isn't included on this list. This could imply that simply talking on the phone isn’t regarded as dangerous or distracted behavior. It's true that having a phone conversation might not be as dangerous as texting or staring at your phone, but it certainly is more dangerous than not using your phone at all. You're focused on the conversation rather than the road, and you can't safely keep both hands on the wheel while holding your phone.
AT&T conducted the survey as part of their It Can Wait Campaign, which aims to keep drivers focused on the road rather than their phones. It's not just texting while driving that is dangerous. Using your smartphone while driving is dangerous no matter what you're using it for.
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