As our smartphones allow us to do more than just email and text, we’re becoming more distracted while driving.
That’s one finding from a new AT&T study which reported that 70 percent of smartphone owners use their device while at the wheel.
Texting (61 percent) and emailing (33 percent) are still the top activities, but now people are using Facebook (27 percent), Twitter (14 percent), Instagram (14 percent), and Snapchat (11 percent), too. Even 17 percent of respondents said they take selfies while driving, while 10 percent said video chat.
Other findings, which AT&T calls “unsettling”:
- 62% keep their smartphones within easy reach while driving.
- 30% of people who post to Twitter while driving do it “all the time.”
- 22% who access social networks while driving cite addiction as a reason.
- Of those who shoot videos behind the wheel, 27% think they can do it safely while driving.
The study, conducted by Braun Research with 2,067 participants who own a smartphone and drive at least once per day, was part of AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign that encourages people to put down their smartphones while driving.
“When we launched It Can Wait five years ago, we pleaded with people to realize that no text is worth a life,” Lori Lee, AT&T’s global marketing officer, said in a statement. “The same applies to other smartphone activities that people are doing while driving. For the sake of you and those around you, please keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone.”
More and more states are enacting laws that prohibit phone activities while driving, with Oklahoma becoming the 46th state to ban texting and driving earlier this month. In Washington, a bill that would have made performing pretty much any task — including surfing the Internet, using maps, or checking your social networks — illegal while driving died after passing the Senate in March.
In Seattle last year, more drivers were busted for talking on the phone than in any other year since a law banning talking-while-driving went into effect. In 2014, Seattle police handed out 2,249 tickets to drivers who were talking on the phone, a 22 percent jump compared to the year before.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect that 70 percent of smartphone owners use their device while driving.
