#TextingWhileDriving

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the state will designate “texting zones” along New York’s highways in hopes to curb distracted driving.

Roughly one-in-five drivers admit to texting, emailing, or using social media while behind the wheel of a car, according to a new study by Ipsos.

A new gadget is on the market that aims to keep drivers from sending and receiving text messages behind the wheel. 

The decision is in; a woman who was being sued for sending a text message which caused the receiver of the message to get in an accident has been cleared by a New Jersey judge.

On Sept. 21, 2009, a nineteen-year-old man struck a couple on a motorcycle while texting behind the wheel of his car. Now, the couple is attempting to sue the woman who was sending the messages to the man, saying that she was encouraging his distracted driving. 

Despite acknowledging that it’s a dangerous habit, a significant proportion of teens admit to texting and driving. A new survey by Consumer Reports shows that almost a third of the teens surveyed admitted having the practice themselves.

A recent study released by the Department of Transportation (DOT) finds that passengers under 25 are less likely to speak up to a driver who is texting and driving… maybe because they’re too busy texting as well.

The study was conducted and released to encourage passengers to speak up against distracted drivers and is spearheaded by none other than transportation secretary Ray LaHood, who cruises around on the weekends looking for distracted drivers to honk at. 56 percent of 18- to 20-year-olds said they would “say something” if their driver was texting, while 52 percent of 21-24 year olds would do the same.

Multi-tasking is an essential part of your day, we get that. But that doesn’t mean you should carry it over to every aspect of your life. Like driving, for example. When you’re behind the wheel, you should be paying attention to the road and nothing else. And while we all know that’s what we should be doing, we don’t always follow this advice – especially when it comes to putting down our cell phone.

A recent survey from the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies that polled 1,000 motorists found that 90 percent believe that talking on the phone while driving should be illegal. But while they believe this, 51 percent of those polled admit they have used their phone while out on the road.

Here are some more numbers from the survey: Of the 356 respondents who said they have talked on a hand-held cell phone while driving, 43 percent said it should be illegal to do so. Of the 315 respondents who have talked on a hands-free cell phone while driving, 11 percent said it should be illegal to do so. And 80 percent of the 133 respondents who have texted while driving said that should be illegal. Almost a third of younger drivers (ages 18 to 34 years) said they have texted while driving.

But talking or texting on the phone isn’t the only thing we like to do. The survey goes on to point out that 77 percent of respondents have observed other motorists apply makeup, shave and brush their hair (only 8% admitted to doing it themselves). Also 18 percent of respondents have seen others change their clothes while driving, but only 3 percent would admit to doing so themselves.

After the jump, you’ll find a list of what the respondents admit to doing behind the wheel.

Anybody who’s anybody has their own app, and now you can add State Farm to the list of trend setters. This one will hopefully cut down on a few claims, as State Farm’s Android application automatically responds to text messages while you’re driving.

The new widget, called the “On the Move” widget, lets Android smartphone users to compose and preload customized messages that are sent as automated responses to incoming text messages. That means you can keep your eyes on the road and let the app respond to text messages for you. It tells texters that you’re busy at the moment, but will get back to them as soon as you can. It’s free to anyone with an Android smartphone as part of State Farm’s updated Pocket Agent for Android application.

“It is our hope that this widget will prevent crashes and save lives,” said Laurette Stiles, Strategic Resources vice president at State Farm. “This new service will help drivers manage the temptation to read or respond to text messages when they are behind the wheel. We wanted to make this widget available free-of-charge as just one of the ways we’re working to keep our roadways safe for drivers.”

With the app, Android owners can compose their own responses and save them for future use. It works with all incoming texts, or can be directed at those in your address book. Before you drive you car away, just activate the service and catch up on your texts when you get to your destination. Activating the service prior to driving is just one way to use the widget.

To activate the auto-response function, just turn on the widget and write or pick an auto-response message. Any text messages you get still come through and can be accessed in your inbox at any time.

Check out a video demonstration of the App after the jump:

You look at the survey headline: “86 Percent Of Teen Drivers Are Distracted.” Of course, you go right to the evils of the cell phone – talking, texting, sending and reading email – or using advanced in-car features. Results from a survey conducted by AAA and Seventeen magazine found that 86 percent of those polled drove distracted – but they consider adjusting the radio and eating in the car as distractions.

It’s a sign of the times – texting while behind the wheel isn’t cool to do anymore. In fact, it’s pretty stupid, now that we know the dangers associated while trying to do the two acts simultaneously. But for all those drivers who still don’t get it, don’t worry – TxtStopper will stop you from being your own worst enemy.

There’s already enough to focus on while driving, but apparently, that’s not enough for us – we have a touch of the ADD (Attention Deficit while Driving) syndrome. Topping the list as the biggest distraction for drivers is, not a big surprise – texting.

Although many states and provinces have banned texting, it seems like we just can’t put down the cell phone. In a study done by Autoglass, where 3,000 motorists were polled, texting took the prize as the top activity to partake in while behind the wheel (well, other than driving that is).

Of those polled, more than half (51 percent) indicated that texting/SMS diverted their attention of the road. And when they aren’t texting, they are talking – 40 percent noted the gabbing on the cell took up their attention while driving.

Here’s a surprising fact – the worst offenders happened to be in the over-55 age group. This is the age where drivers are seen as the safest demographic (and who knew that middle-aged adults knew how to text).

Other result from this Autoglass survey found that men are twice as likely (35 percent) as women (15 percent) to take their eyes off the road when checking out a hottie walking by. To divert a women attention, you just need to be cute and furry – ladies are almost twice as likely as men (25 percent compared with 13 percent) to be distraction by trying to avoid an animal in the road.

[Source: Auto Express]

Find a top ten list of distractions that drivers cited after the jump:

You’d think that parents would want to set a good example for their teens, especially when it comes to good driving habits. But now a new study shows that adults are just as bad, maybe worse, than teens when it comes to sending and receiving texts while driving.

We all know how dangerous it is to text while driving, but a recent survey shows that we just can’t keep our hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road ahead of us. It seems like we have to multitask no matter what we’re doing and among our favorite things to do while behind the wheel includes performing sexual acts and getting undressed.

Drivers who text have just met their worst enemy – the United Nations. In an attempt to end distracted driving, the United Nations has launched a new campaign aimed to stop texting while driving.