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Even When Not on a Phone, Cell Phone Users Are More Distracted When Driving Is There a 'Distracted-Driver Personality' Type? |
MERIDEN, Conn., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- According to an analysis by
Response Insurance of their national driving survey, people who use cell
phones when driving are more likely to be distracted from the road even when
they are not talking on a phone. The results indicate there may be a
"distracted-driver personality" type behind the wheel.
The Response Insurance National Driving Distractions Survey compared
attentiveness of cell phone users to non-users when not talking on a phone.
When asked a series of questions about different topics that might take their
attention from the road, people who use cell phones were significantly more
likely to be distracted when thinking about every-day issues and concerns than
drivers who do not use cell phones while driving.
When compared to drivers who do not talk on cell phones, drivers who use
cell phones are 56% more likely to be distracted behind the wheel while
thinking about what to eat; 36% more likely to be distracted thinking about
relationship issues; 32% more likely to be distracted when thinking about
their jobs; 27% more likely to be distracted when thinking about health
concerns; 21% more likely to be distracted when thinking about family issues,
and 19% more likely to be distracted when thinking about money issues or
bills.
If, as the survey indicates, certain people are more likely to be
distracted behind the wheel, recent attention to cell phone use may be missing
the larger problem of driver inattention.
"From the time we issued our first survey, we said that cell phones were
only one part of a societal trend of multi-tasking while driving and a general
lack of attention to the road," said Mory Katz, Chairman of Response
Insurance. "Our analysis points to what could be a chronic inattentiveness
problem for a specific group of drivers. We hope this information sets the
stage for additional research and much more driver education in this area."
Source: Response Insurance
Response Insurance is a direct-to-the customer auto insurance company that
sponsored the survey that launched the national debate on driving distractions
and cell phone use. That 1999 survey provided the first detailed and
scientific look at the distracting nature of various activities and their
likelihood of contributing to accidents.
About the Survey Analysis:
This new analysis is based on a statistically valid survey that included
1,046 interviews conducted among a nationally representative sample of adults
18 years of age and included 525 drivers who use cell phones and 420 non-
users. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3 percentage points at the
95% level of confidence. The survey was sponsored by Response Insurance in
2001, developed with Leflein Associates, and fielded by Opinion Research
Corporation International. The analysis was conducted June 2003.
Contact:
Ray Palermo
Response Insurance
500 South Broad Street
Meriden CT 06450
Toll Free Tel: 888-288-6080, Ext. 7251
E-mail: rpalermo@response.com
Off-hour Pager: 1-800-759-8888 / PIN: 1196453
