We’ve been told the numbers. We’ve seen the results. But drivers still think they’re perfectly safe texting while driving.
A new study has found that 68 percent of those polled think that they are safe texting and driving, despite that a quarter of all car accidents can be linked to cellphones, according to U.S. News and World Reports.
Researchers had 447 drivers fill out a questionnaire in Australia for their findings, according to U.S. News and World Reports.
The study says that while so many accidents are linked to phones, speaking on a phone increases the risk of an accident by 2.2 times. Texting increases that risk by 6.1 times, Vanguard reported.
FOMO, or fear of missing out, and separation anxiety are keeping drivers from hanging up their cellphones.
The study also found that women more than men used cells while driving. And inexperienced drivers used them more than experienced drivers, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Some drivers told researchers they control when they use their devices, for example, at stops, intersections and they didn’t use them during heavy traffic or on curved urban or rural roads.
Despite the findings that people don't believe that cellphones and driving are dangerous, they admit that they will stop using them in traffic and in the presence of law enforcement, according to U.S. News and World Reports.
Georgia recently enacted a hands-free driving law, preventing drivers from holding their phones while behind the wheel.
Fines in Georgia will cost drivers from $50 to $150.
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