No matter how many times we are reminded that talking on cell phones or changing radio stations or taking your eyes off the road for a split second can result in catastrophe, millions of drivers still feel in “control” enough to remove their attentions from the task at hand while driving. Why are people so seemingly determined to injure themselves and put others at risk?
Some of the distracting behaviors drivers display while operating motor vehicles are just astonishing. Go down any busy highway or byway and you are bound to find men shaving using their visor mirrors, drivers making out with passengers, women putting on makeup, people eating breakfast, drivers reading books and/or newspapers, and those who aren’t doing these things are busy talking on their cellular phones.
Realistically speaking, we should be seeing far more accidents on the roadways, especially with the results of a new study claiming that high percentages of drivers are continuously distracted behind the wheel. It is amazing anyone survives their commute to work and back.
A New Poll Has Frightening Results
A poll taken by Santander car insurance, hoping to quantify the risks associated with driving in this day and age, turned up some interestingâ€â€Âscary is more like it!â€â€Âresults. According to the study, 5% of women and 11% of men readily admit to being involved in a traffic accident due to distraction.
The survey only asked one-thousand random drivers, but that is the basic control group for most scientific studies out there. 1,000 is still a big number, and 5-11% (willing to actually admit it to a car insurer, remember) is alarming.
What’s more alarming is the number of accidents that could have happened. The same motorists surveyed also claimed to have nearly missed disaster on the roadways, with 30% of men and 20% of women claiming to have swerved or braked at the last second to avoid crashing.
Of the 1,000 motorists polled, 96% claimed that texting while driving was the road’s most dangerous distraction. However, 20% of that 96% admitted to texting while driving.
“Motorists understand their risky behaviors are dangerous, but many take their eyes off the road to do something other than driving,” stated the director of Santander Insurance, Colin Greenhill.
Overall, most of the drivers polled expressed genuine anger about roadway distractions. But most of the drivers polled, 75% to be exact, fully admitted to being distracted themselves while driving. This leaves the results more than a bit confusing, at least on the basis drivers are aware yet are intent on not following proper road safety. This is mind blowing at best.
It seems clear that people want other people to drive safely; they just don’t necessarily feel the rules apply to them directly.