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Texting While Driving

December 8, 2011 by · Comments Off on Texting While Driving 

Texting While Driving, Texting while driving increased 50 percent last year and two out of 10 drivers say they’ve sent text messages or emails while behind the wheel despite a rush by states to ban the practice, the National Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday

An annual study conducted in 2010 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of drivers observed at selected stoplights and intersections found that at any given time just under 1 percent were texting or manipulating hand-held devices, such as using a Web-capable smart phone or cell phone to view travel directions, check e-mails or calendar appointments, or surf the Internet, manual dialing, playing hand-held games, and holding phones in front of their faces. But the activity increased to .9 percent of drivers, up from .6 percent the previous year.

The share of drivers speaking into headsets was also,9 percent and had increased by the same amount. But drivers talking into hand-held cell phones remained flat at 5 percent.

Eighteen percent of drivers said they’ve sent text messages or emails while driving, according to the results of a national telephone survey by NHTSA of over 6,000 drivers aged 18 or older. The survey was conducted a year ago and released Thursday. Among drivers 21 to 24 years old, half said they’ve texted behind the wheel.

The survey also found that most drivers will answer a phone call while driving and most will continue to drive after answering.

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