New survey finds people are somewhat aware, and very stupid

Found at the Los Angeles Times' Top of the Ticket blog: A new Harris survey finds that most Americans realize that talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous, but they don't care and do it anyway.

Seventy-two percent of people who drive and own a cell phone say they do both at the same time. The number is in the eighties of percents for folks under 44.

Meanwhile, eighty-eight percent say it is dangerous to talk on a cell phone while driving.

(Twenty-seven percent say they text-message and drive at the same time, at least occasionally. Which ought to scare the pants off you.)

It appears that the misguided state laws banning handheld phoning while driving but allowing hands-free phoning while driving have had the deleterious effect of making people think hands-free phoning is safer than handheld phoning, seventy-one percent of those polled by Harris. But, as several studies have shown, what makes talking on a cell phone while driving unsafe is not the use of a hand, it is the loss of mental focus on driving -- a loss of mental focus greater than that resulting from a .08 blood alcohol level. BUT, even in states having hands-free phoning laws, forty-nine percent of those polled hold the phone in their hands while phoning and driving.

Stop it. Just stop it. No phone call is so important you need to do the equivalent of drink and drive to make it.

Posted: Thu - June 11, 2009 at 03:49 PM

getBlogName(); > getCategoryName("C1514238991"); >

New survey finds people are somewhat aware, and very stupid

> >