Survey finds 37% of Gen Y-ers text while driving

by Darren Murph posted May 2nd 2008 at 3:26PM

Oh sure, Americans are adamantly against texting while driving (in theory), but that's not stopping those mischievous Gen Y-ers from getting their SMS on while behind the wheel. According to a new survey of 1,200 people conducted by Nationwide Mutual Insurance (we know, we know), a third of the Gen Y-ers admitted to "always multitasking while driving," and while the "always" bit does indeed frighten us a tad, the real juice was in the next statistic: 37-percent said they sent text messages while driving. Before you start belaboring the imprudent youth, think long and hard about your own in-car cellphone usage -- remember that time you just had to reply "y w pep plz" in order to salvage your friend's pizza order? Tsk tsk.

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Filed under: Messaging, Studies

Tags: Culture, dangerous, driving, nascar, research, sms, study, sturvey, text, text messages, text messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, TextMessages, TextMessaging

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

slamEVIL @ May 2nd 2008 4:20PM

not only have i texted while driving, i've taken and sent photos, looked up and watched naruto (via orb), as well as youtube videos! texting while driving is so 2007.

Neutral

firesign @ May 2nd 2008 4:52PM

which just proves that 37% of gen y-ers are friggin idiots who should not be allowed to drive.

Neutral

Wayne @ May 2nd 2008 8:23PM

They should be taken out back and shot.

Neutral

amnigo @ May 2nd 2008 10:48PM

Hey now, we aren't ALL trucker hat-wearing, scruffy-faced slobs with zero brains.

Low Ranked

D Mac @ May 2nd 2008 5:21PM

I ALWAYS text, Email, Surf, or whatever else on my phone while driving, and I am still much safer that most of the morons out there.

Highest Ranked

MIKE @ May 2nd 2008 5:32PM

Just because you haven't been involved in an accident yourself doesn't make you a safe driver... it just makes you lucky. Who knows how many accidents you've caused by your lack of attention to the road. I hope for my sake that you live far far away from me.

Neutral

jrk @ May 2nd 2008 6:16PM

i've been in cars with friends driving who swerve across lanes just changing the radio station or the a/c or whatever. and i can honestly say i've never done that texting. texting while driving is just as unsafe as doing anything in your car that takes your eyes and focus off the road.. get rid of the climate system, the radio, and other people in your car, and then, maybe, you'll have fewer people getting distracted.

until cars come with heads-up displays as standard and have all the controls voice-activated or on the steering wheel, things won't really change much..

just saying.

Neutral

D Mac @ May 4th 2008 5:59AM

Who said I haven't been involved in an accident? I certainly didn't.

Who knows how many? I do. ZERO.

I am a save driver. I text while driving. Those 2 statement are not mutually exclusive.

Neutral

Razor1973 @ May 2nd 2008 5:43PM

I'm no generation Y and I text and e-mail every single time I drive. I just don't use that Nokia 6682 that dude is using anymore. Although it's still sitting at home. Two of them, actually.

Neutral

Wayne @ May 2nd 2008 8:24PM

You're just that dill-hole who thinks he's safe because everyone around you gives you a really wide berth because you're weaving all over the road.

Low Ranked

D Mac @ May 4th 2008 5:57AM

lol, you don't know anything about me. What makes you think I'm not safe? I never said I looked at my phone. I never said I did it while moving.

Stop making incorrect assumptions dill-hole.

Neutral

Wayne @ May 2nd 2008 8:25PM

Should have been a reply to D Mac.

Neutral

MadCow234 @ May 3rd 2008 1:50AM

This is exactly why cell signal blockers need to be standard in cars. My best friend goes to Full Sail in Winter Park, FL and when he steps in his classrooms, the signal blockers send callers directly to his voicemail. This needs to be standard in all cars starting right this minute. I am almost hit by some dumbass talking on a cell phone everyday (live in Houston) and they're just talking and don't have the sense to be able to concentrate on the road.

Oh...and @jrk...I don't know what kind of friends you have, but I don't have to look at my radio to change a station or stare at my a/c to turn it on, that's why everything is within reach and radios have preset buttons...it's not rocket surgery.

Neutral

D Mac @ May 4th 2008 6:02AM

That is why no one should ever talk on their phone while driving. Texting is much safer.

Neutral

Chris @ May 3rd 2008 4:48AM

I didnt get that last part about the pizza order lol maybe cause im Gen X... FYI if you dont know, born on/after 1978 is Gen Y, I believe theres another Gen born on/after 1994, dont recall the name.

I hope there was more to the survey than that, the real questions are how OFTEN do you text while driving, otherwise this is saying 37% have texted maybe only 1-2 times while driving, like myself...

The Cell phone law is just a profit scam, either u can drive and multi-task or you cant. Some people cant even drink a soda or change the radio while driving, so theres really no point to the law or this survey.

The worst case scenario is the Navigation units everyone is now using, which are legal, and in most cases used more regularly than a cell phone, due to its purpose. Its a great idea of course, just not for everyone.

Its nice to have a blog running about something worth talking about and not some IPhone rumor. :)

Highly Ranked

Andrew @ May 3rd 2008 11:37AM

Goody-two-shoes here. I've never text in the car in my life, or used the phone without some kind of hands-free. If I really have to make a phone call I wait til I'm at traffic lights or something and then quickly find the number and dial it then just put it on loudspeaker on the seat next to me. I'm in the UK so it's an on-the-spot fine anyway.

I've not been driving for many years but I've had to perform an emergency stop plenty of times for all sorts of reasons and, as far as I'm concerned, if you're stupid enough to be looking away from the road or anything else demanding of your attention then you deserve to crash. I just hope it's not into somebody else.

The psychologists say you shouldn't drive and phone/text then you shouldn't. I'm sick of people making up their own common-sense psychology to suit whatever works out for them, like how it's only stupid people who crash while phoning. Psychologists are professionals who've spent years in education and conducted research and studies to find out what they know. Then some jack-ass comes along and says he knows better because of his own absent-minded observations and biased logic.

Neutral

D Mac @ May 4th 2008 6:21AM

Everyone in the world does not fit into the same sized box.

Saying that *In General* texting with driving is unsafe is Very true.

However, some people are just bad drivers, some people are great at multitasking, some people are easily distracted, some people tend to let their mind wander, some people...

Thinking about work/home/whatever while driving and just going on autopilot is very unsafe. And yet almost all drivers do that.

Having tunnel vision and only paying attention to what is in front of you is very unsafe. And yet far too many people do that.

And so on, and so on...

Texting while driving is simply not dangerous for all people at all times, and it is a lot safer than the other things that everyone does on the road every day.

If you remain focused on the road and stop texting when conditions dictate then texting is not unsafe (that is why texting is safer that talking, you can stop texting when you need to, you can't stop talking or have the other person stop talking mid-word)

The problem is simply that most people are too stupid and self delusional to know if they are one of the ones of that can safely do it or not.