With officers across California cracking down on distracted driving throughout the month of April, one would hope that drivers are getting the message and beginning to refrain from using their phones in any manner behind the wheel. But a new survey out of San Diego shows that the danger is still readily apparent on Southern California roads.
The survey was conducted by the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine’s Training, Research, and Education for Driving Safety Program, otherwise known as TREDS. Researchers queried 715 drivers between 30 and 64 in the San Diego area as to their driving habits, and some significant trends are worth mentioning.
512 people drove between an hour and two a day, and 30% of those persons explained that they use their phones occasionally to frequently. More than half explained that they have rarely used their cellphones, and a scant 17% proclaimed that they never use their phones while driving.
Perhaps the most shocking statistics pertain to those persons who have kids in the vehicle. 261 respondents reported having a kid younger than 11, and those persons were far more likely to text and talk on their phones. 36% admitted to texting, while a whopping 65% reported talking on their phones. Those percentages dropped very slightly among parents with kids older than 11 but younger than 17.