AAA Survey: 1 Out of 5 Drivers Admits to Texting While Behind the Wheel

Nearly one out of five U.S. drivers surveyed has read or sent a text message while behind the wheel, even though nearly all of the respondents in an AAA survey released on Friday considered such action unacceptable.

“The new technologies that help us multitask in our everyday lives and increasingly popular social media sites present a hard-to-resist challenge to the typically safe driver,” AAA Chief Executive Robert Darbelnet said in a statement accompanying the survey commissioned by the AAA Foundation.

“Enacting texting bans for drivers in all 50 states can halt the spread of this dangerous practice among motorists nationwide, and is a key legislative priority for AAA in state capitals,” Darbelnet said.

The group, which provides emergency road services to its members and lobbies on automobile issues, formerly was known as the American Automobile Association.

The random telephone survey questioned 2,500 U.S. residents 16 and older in April and May.

Although nearly all respondents considered the practice unacceptable, 18 percent said they had sent a text messag
while driving within a month of being surveyed.

Most data available on texting and driving are anecdotal, but the U.S. Transportation Department is seeking more information as pressure grows to ban the practice.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will hold a two-day conference on distracted drivers next week in Washington.

Separately on Friday, 93 percent of 1,000 licensed drivers responding to a survey commissioned by Ford Motor Co. supported a nationwide ban on texting while behind the wheel.

AAA says surveys of its members also favor a ban, a step that Ford and other major automakers support.

About a dozen states have imposed prohibitions, and proposals for a national ban have been introduced in Congress.

The wireless industry — including cellphone manufacturers, carriers, and some Internet companies represented by the CTIA-Wireless Association — support state and local efforts to
ban texting while driving.

(Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Latest Comments

• September 29, 2009 at 7:38 am

  Rob says:

  License suspension is a joke. Pulling a piece of paper doesn't change behavior or send a message. If the courts had the balls (which they don't) to make an impact, they'd im... read more
• September 28, 2009 at 3:57 am

  WK says:

  Changing the station on your radio is not even close to the same thing as texting out messages or talking on the phone. Pushing one button versus texting for minutes at a time... read more
• September 28, 2009 at 3:28 am

  Rusty says:

  It is scary to know that one of every five cars you see on teh road with you has a driver who is texting at the same time. While it is difficult to enforce laws involving cell... read more