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Nearly 1 In 4 Adults Surf the Web While Driving
cartechboy writes "A new survey out this week says that the number of motorists who surf the Web has nearly doubled over the past four years. In 2009, 13 percent of motorists admitted that they'd accessed the Internet while driving. In 2013, that figure had jumped to 24 percent. Smartphones are the primary culprit, making the unsafe task even easier. Other distracted driving behavior is on the rise, too, and younger drivers are the biggest issue — 76 percent of motorists 18 to 29 said that they talked on a hand-held cell phone while driving. 70 percent said they were texting. Keep in mind we have states legislating smartphone use task by task, which clearly doesn't help."
All the more reason why we need to get autonomous cars on the road.
The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
As many as 1 in 4 adults should never have made it to adulthood, with the clearly disabled mental faculties. To bad driving is a case where the dumb shit you do is as likely to kill an innocent person on the road as yourself. It's like vaccines really, there aren't enough consequences on the people doing the harm.
First post while driving down Interstate 49#`%dAq{%&dkj19Z{`%.NO CARRIER
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
24 percent? More like 50 percent. Both of the guys I just passed were staring at their little gadget in zombie-like trance.
Posted from my iPhone.
Saying that "Nearly 1 in 4 adults SURF the web while driving" is very different from the actual results of the survey: "Nearly 1 in 4 adults SURFED the web while driving AT LEAST ONCE IN THE LAST YEAR".
Frankly, I'm surprised the number is so low since they include checking email.
Pick a random left turn light in the Bay Area, and look at the driver waiting third or fourth in line. Some of them are very slow to move off when the light goes green, because they are reading or even typing on their smartphone. Then they play catch-up after a cursory look at the road ahead. They rate their entertainment above the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers. It's unbelievably selfish.
Great, you're only a nuisance instead of a threat. God forbid you spend a single moment of your life not feeling entertained.
the number of motorists who access the internet (e.g. check email, surf websites, etc.) has nearly doubled over the past four years
This statement implies these people access the internet regularly. However, that's not the question they asked.
13 percent of motorists admitted that they'd accessed the internet while driving
This statement says motorists have accessed the internet at all, meaning at least one time ever in your life, not on a regular basis.
This is a very important distinction that the article glosses over. If I accessed the internet on my phone once 5 years ago, then this survey would call me "one who accesses the internet while driving," which is very misleading. I don't access the internet while driving. The survey should ask something like "have you accessed the internet while driving in the last month." Then the data would be reasonable and give a much better representation of what people do.
If you're on a road, you're driving. If you're in a parking lot or in your driveway, sure. But if you're sitting at an intersection and believe you're not driving, you've lost the plot.
Show of hands, how many of us have had to honk at the motorist in front of us when the light changes because they're still fiddling with their phone? I have to at least 2-3 times a week, and I don't drive more than 5-6 times in an average week.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Just wait till you get there. Seriously. You never need to send a text while driving, you just have such amazingly low willpower that you recklessly endanger others, and don't even get anything out of it.
It is simply not acceptable, and you should stop doing this immediately, and feel shame that you ever did.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
If I can prove by experiment that can drive more safely while texting than most people with their attention fully focused on the road
I wish more people would actually try that. The reality check would probably shock some of them out of this kind of reckless behaviour, making us all safer.
How about a deal? You take that test, and if you really are safer while texting than most people when they're fully concentrating, you get to keep doing it, completely legally. However, if it turns out that you're actually more dangerous, and we also then know that you're deluded about your own abilities and therefore unable to properly judge how to drive safely within those abilities, you have to give up your licence and never drive again. Fair?
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
If I can prove by experiment that can drive more safely while texting than most people with their attention fully focused on the road will I be exempt from these kinds of laws
Major math fail. Accidents are driven by statistics. What you do and what other people do is not related. If you are more dangerous today than yesterday, the average also rises.
Note that if you are such an excellent driver, you still may need that last bit of skill if an idiot decides to something idiotic in your path. You will not get that last bit of skill if you are distracted.