From Sex to Video Games – Distracted Driving around the World
June 4, 2010 – 10:46 am
The Japanese are more likely to play video games while driving, increasing the chances of an accident. The English are some of the most aware motorists – they are the least likely to engage in distracted driving. Overall, approximately 15% of motorists claim to having had sex while driving, while 28% admitted to kissing while driving.
Those facts come from an international survey of respondents from Europe, Asia and North America. In all, 1,800 respondents from six countries were asked to check activities that they had indulged in while driving.
- 28% admitted to texting while driving
- 5% admitted to playing video games while at the wheel
- 5% admitted to shaving while driving
- 13% admitted to applying makeup while driving
- 12% admitted to e-mailing while driving
- 10% confessed to reading newspapers or magazines at the wheel
These statistics prove one thing – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood should be as concerned about non-tech distractions at the wheel as he is about texting and use of cell phones while driving.
It’s not as if distracted driving is a 21st century phenomenon. Ever since man began to drive around on a set of wheels, he has been distracted by factors within and outside the vehicle. There have always been distractions from conversations with fellow passengers, and distractions from steamy billboard ads. The concept of multitasking has been around for many decades, and Los Angeles personal injury attorneys have often found people combining personal grooming activities with driving. That’s why you see women applying lipstick while driving and men shaving.
The emergence of drive-through restaurants made it easy for people to pickup snacks or a quick breakfast on the way to work. Most of these people end up eating in the car, with one hand holding a burger and the other hand on the wheel. Any Los Angeles personal injury attorney will tell you that taking even one of your hands off the wheel is a recipe for disaster.
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