Study Shows More Texting One The Road

By Cornelius Nunev

Two out of every ten drivers on the street is text messaging, as reported by a recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Half of all those who replied between the ages of 21 and 24 admitted to the act. These amounts are up regardless of growing number of states banning texting behind the wheel. But the problem could be even more prevalent than individuals want to admit, the study suggests.

Drivers making bad choices

Between Nov and Dec. 2010, about 6,000 drivers were polled in the survey released on Dec. 8. In order to determine why "some individuals continue to make bad decisions" while driving, the survey was completed.

David Strickland, head of the NHTSA, said:

"What's clear from all of the information we have is that driver distraction continues to be a major problem."

One in 100 at all times

If somebody received a phone call while driving, most of the people surveyed said they would answer it and continue the drive. As reported by the NHTSA, about one in every 100 drivers on the street is text messaging, emailing, using the internet or otherwise using a mobile device at any given time. Even though there have been more state bans recently, the number of incidents have increased 50 percent during the last year. In Nov, PA became the 35th state to ban texting behind the wheel.

About fifty percent the people who replied said that their ability to drive was not impacted by talking on a cellular phone even though the majority of the responders said they support state-wide bans. About 25 percent of respondents said their ability to drive was not hampered by emailing or text messaging while driving. Almost everyone was worried as a passenger when the driver was text messaging or emailing. This was about 90 percent of those surveyed.

Traffic deaths lowest in decades

The 2010 traffic fatality amounts are in by the NHTSA also. The traffic increased by 1.6 percent in 2009 though. From 2009 to 2010, there was a decrease in the number of people that passed away on U.S. highways. It went down from 33,808 to 32,855. The fatalities have not been that low since 1949.

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