Survey finds 37% of Gen Y-ers text while driving

Oh sure, Americans are adamantly against texting while driving (in theory), but that's not stopping those mischievous Gen Y-ers from getting their SMS on while behind the wheel. According to a new survey of 1,200 people conducted by Nationwide Mutual Insurance (we know, we know), a third of the Gen Y-ers admitted to "always multitasking while driving," and while the "always" bit does indeed frighten us a tad, the real juice was in the next statistic: 37-percent said they sent text messages while driving. Before you start belaboring the imprudent youth, think long and hard about your own in-car cellphone usage -- remember that time you just had to reply "y w pep plz" in order to salvage your friend's pizza order? Tsk tsk.

[Via About]

[Robotochan @ May 2nd 2008 3:30PM]

Over-population Solved!

[Vic20 @ May 2nd 2008 3:45PM]

I suppose this doesn't surprise me. Here's a line from a paper I was just grading:

"That's when Daisy looks at Gatsby and basically says, OMG!"

[Matt @ May 2nd 2008 4:09PM]

@Vic20, tell me you're joking

[Vic20 @ May 2nd 2008 4:34PM]

Matt,

I did what any responsible teacher would do: I circled it and wrote "ROFL!" in the margin.

[Zak @ May 2nd 2008 4:56PM]

Vic20, that made me LOL for real.

[Grumpy old man @ May 2nd 2008 5:06PM]

Here's a decent idea. Most cell service companies can determine where you are via triangulation right? Well if you happen to be moving at speeds above 25 miles an hour you can dinged with a "Talking/texting while driving" tax. So instead of $0.10 a minute that conversation costs you $10 a minute.

Then only rich people can text/talk and drive at the same time, the way God intended it to be. ;)

[Usagimaru @ May 3rd 2008 10:33AM]

@Vic20
Why can't more teachers be like you? Hate for my English teacher has led me to not bother reading that book.

[ddub @ May 2nd 2008 5:10PM]

Amongst many other problems with this idea, kinda sucks for the passengers who get charged 10 bucks for texting.

[PeterF @ May 2nd 2008 5:11PM]

@Grumpy old man
What if you are a passenger?

[David G. @ May 2nd 2008 7:11PM]

Going with "The Great Gatsby" (I don't know how to underline) theme, here is a passage I actually read from that book today that semi-relates to this.

"I know very little about driving--next to nothing. It happened, [the accident] and that's all I know."
"Well if you're a poor driver you ougthn't to try to driving at night."
"But I wasn't even trying," he explained indignantly. "I wasn't even trying."
An awed hush fell upon the bystanders.
"Do you want to commit suicide?"
"You're lucky it was just a wheel! A bad driver and not even trying!"
"You don't understand," explained the criminal. "I wasn't even driving. There's another man in the car."
:-D

[Andrew @ May 2nd 2008 7:20PM]

@Grumpy

What if you're on a bus or some other public transportation?

[Johan S @ May 2nd 2008 3:33PM]

Well, technically, they're not actually driving while texting.

[Harkonian @ May 2nd 2008 4:30PM]

Happily this will be a non-issue in California very soon. Beginning July 1 2008 cell phone usage in a car is completely prohibited for drivers under the age of 18 and only usable when in hands-free mode if over 18. Sweet.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/index.htm

[Dusty Nipples @ May 2nd 2008 4:46PM]

@Harkonian, do you really think that law makes this a "non-issue?" Last I looked, California has speed limits, however, that doesn't stop people from going 85mph+ on the freeways.

[Superduperm @ May 2nd 2008 4:47PM]

Harkonian, do you seriously think that will make a difference? Here in New York, the law is that you need to have a hands free cellphone in the car, but that doesnt stop people from using their phone. Just yesterday i saw a teenager texting while driving, and at least 3 people talking with the phone to their ear while driving. I dont get it, isnt taking your mind off the road enough with talking on the cell phone, but to take your eyse off the road too with texting? People are stupid.

[alexmueller @ May 2nd 2008 5:16PM]

whats wrong with going 85 on a freeway? and don't tell me it's not safe because I know what I'm doing, same can not be said for most drivers even going half that speed.

[bondsbw @ May 2nd 2008 6:21PM]

alex... the thing is, *I* don't know that you know what you're doing. And more-so, I certainly don't know that you always know what you're doing.

After the number of times I've been behind the wheel and suddenly noticed that my eyes had been closed for a few seconds, I just don't trust anyone on the road. You might be perfectly alert 90% of the time, but then it's the other 10% that makes you a hazard. And a speeding hazard is worse than a non-speeding hazard.

[Osiris @ May 2nd 2008 11:09PM]

What's also a problem with *you* speeding is that it is harder for other drivers to judge how quickly you are approaching because they will not be used to the lesser minority of road users that do speed.

[Jon Doe. @ May 3rd 2008 1:42AM]

Alex,

Do me a favor and don't be going 85 in the left most lane when I get out of the slow moving traffic in the right. Seriously its one thing if you are going 5-10 over. Or on an interstate going 20+ over where the nearest town is 20 miles away, but say 85 in a 65MPH area. Asshats who drive that fast CAN NOT compensate for people who aren't expecting you to be zooming past in 5 seconds.

[rv @ May 3rd 2008 6:06PM]

john doe: check your fucking mirrors

[sk8rpro @ May 2nd 2008 3:35PM]

This is REALLY bad - texting while driving!? I'm part of Gen. Y and rarely ever use it, in fact I now have it disabled because the rates were raised to 20 cents (and I refuse to get a text plan).

How 'bout a better idea get a Bluetooth headset, and talk to people for once. Talking is much better than the chickening out method of communication.

[SugarDaddy @ May 2nd 2008 3:48PM]

Chickening out? In some cases txting is far more efficient. Why should I dial a number, wait for someone to pick up, say hellos, and eventually get to the point of the call when I can save time and just send a simple message? Oh and then I have to make up an excuse to get off the phone too. So a 10 second txt message turns into a 5 minute event.

And what about clarity? Txting is obvious. It's clear in text. The person can refer to the information later on too.

It's the information age. Get with the times.

[BigD145 @ May 2nd 2008 4:00PM]

We have a little something called a "message box" or "answering machine" here in the future. You can leave clear and concise oral sentences in your own recognizable voice pattern.

[tom @ May 2nd 2008 4:00PM]

^ It doesn't matter. Whoever doing it is putting yourself and others at risk.

[fashionista @ May 2nd 2008 4:01PM]

SugarDaddy, "txt" is not a verb, or a noun, or even a word.
And sending a text message is unreliable, I have had text messages arrive on my wife's phone 6 hours after I sent it. A call is instant.

[Josef @ May 2nd 2008 4:02PM]

SugarDaddy: "And what about clarity? Txting is obvious. It's clear in text. The person can refer to the information later on too."

Clarity, huh? The written word frequently misses most of the context and almost all of the subtext. Here's an example:

-SugarDaddy really is one hell of a smart guy.-

[sk8rpro @ May 2nd 2008 4:09PM]

@ SugarDaddy,

In other cases, people use it to tell a person they're breaking up with them - through text - it shows they can't man up to face the person's emotions.

So you're reducing the quality of qualification by saying it takes extra time? For me just typing on a keypad is slower that just to ask a person, How are you doing, even with a "how r u"

It's not a real conversation - it's like writing on a white board, and then someone else responding in writing. I would much appreciate a one-minute call saying "Happy Birthday" than to get it by text because it feels heartless - on top of that, I have to pay for that message.

I am with the times, I have a cell phone, a computer, and a car - I just choose not to use all the services because I either disagree with it and/or it costs too much.

I'm not against texting per se - but I am against using it as primary or equal form of communication as voice.

[ZeroCorpse @ May 2nd 2008 11:52PM]

You act like TALKING on the cell phone is some sort of old-fashioned thing!

When I was a teenager, I had to actually GO HOME to talk on the phone, and I wasn't allowed to have one in my room until I was 16 years old.

You know, you don't need to be on the phone all the time. I swear, Gen Y has the shortest attention spans I've ever seen. They're like spastic gerbils.

[John @ May 3rd 2008 1:50AM]

Can you really blame us? We've grown up having to assimilate millions of pieces of information daily; there's literally no time to give your attention to anything for more than a minute or two.

[contractcooker @ May 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

@john

Exactly! I blame all the information I've had to deal with growing up for my attention span. I think that it has gotten shorter over the years. BUT I think that everyone in our generation has a job to counteract this phenomenon. The sad thing is that no one talks about this BIG problem. Hopefully eventually the human brain will be able to adapt to the HUGE quantity of data that it has to process in the modern age. .... or maybe the next world war will destroy all our problems and we can go back to the good old days as cave people. ;)

[FUopec @ May 2nd 2008 3:35PM]

Is talking on the phone old school now?

[sk8rpro @ May 2nd 2008 3:41PM]

Maybe for high schoolers, who have nothing better to do. But for people who have real jobs use the phone, maybe even *gasp* landline phones. So no, talking on phones is not outdated, it's a different method.

[riggs @ May 2nd 2008 3:36PM]

new darwin award candidates

[theidoctor.org @ May 2nd 2008 3:36PM]

KINDA is... i mean, just read the article about people texting in class... they even right their articles with lol... lol

[Joey @ May 2nd 2008 4:18PM]

Right? Do you mean write?

[i.c. weiner @ May 2nd 2008 4:31PM]

see! the article's point exactly!

[theidoctor.org @ May 2nd 2008 3:37PM]

how many people in here don't text while driving?

[sk8rpro @ May 2nd 2008 3:38PM]

I don't even text, except on message boards and blogs like these.

[Froggy @ May 2nd 2008 3:37PM]

what's a text? ;)

[nd @ May 2nd 2008 3:37PM]

I text all the time while driving. I'm 30 (born in 77 so not technically a Gen Yer!).

I feel like I am far more attentive than some people. Why do people have to slow down and swerve while talking on the phone?? I just don't get it. Whether texting or talking on the phone, my main priority is DRIVING! I have no issues pausing or putting down the phone when I need to.

I think that real issue here is that some people should not be allowed to drive. :-p

[w00t @ May 2nd 2008 3:48PM]

Yes, like you for starters!

You can claim all you like but it's impossible for you to be fully concentrating if you're texting unless you can compose a text using no limbs and absolutely no engagement from your brain at all!

[Tom Reinke @ May 2nd 2008 5:06PM]

I don't get it either.. I use one hand for my phone, which is always resting on my stickshift anyways, and I have a full QWERTY keyboard so I don't have to concentrate at all at what I'm typing.. Which is why my texts when driving end up being mis-spelled and grammatically wrong, but then again, the people I'm texting are usually no better.

[phanbouy @ May 2nd 2008 8:39PM]

ha. people and their egos. show me someone who _doesn't_ think they're god's gift to driving

that reminds me of an old george carlin bit about how people will admit to being a klutz or bad at math, but never to being a bad driver or having a bad sense of humor

you fail at life

[Nathan @ May 3rd 2008 2:35AM]

I read an article in Popular Science (I think) that said we use the same part of our brain to talk on the phone as to avoid an accident in a tricky driving situation. Some people can switch back and forth quicker or more effectively than others. When I'm talking on the phone while driving and something requires more attention I just get kinda stupid on the phone for a second (sorry to the person on the other line, but...) then, when I'm in the clear I return to the conversation. My step-brothers fiance couldn't drive and chew gum at the same time. I think she's wrecked more cars than she is old by now. Point is: we should all take a test and have different licenses: mine wouldn't be the best, I'm not saying I'm perfect. I refuse to not talk on my phone while driving and I do occasionally reply to a text. I couldn't get what I get done in a day if I didn't. Sorry to the folks out there who think this is some sort of sin. You just have to be responsible enough to know when not to and for some of us that may be all the time.

[phanbouy @ May 3rd 2008 11:07AM]

hey Nate, thanks for proving my point right above ya.

hang up and drive, k? thxbai

p.s. is it even legal anymore?

[phanbouy @ May 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

p.p.s. nate dogg... uh you call txt'ing a "sin" like it makes you some interesting, charismatic rebel? ha.. more like Darwin Award waiting to happen. stick to driving back highways in north dakota so that you don't take anyone down with you

[Dennis @ May 2nd 2008 3:38PM]

my question is why is there a "Generation Y"?

[catachip @ May 2nd 2008 3:47PM]

Generation X encompasses those born from the Mid 60s to early 80s. Generation Y, or the Millennials, are those born from the mid 80s to mid 90s (i.e., 80% of the readers of Engadget).

[Mike @ May 2nd 2008 8:55PM]

Though it's up for debate, from what I've seen the academic time frame is 1982 to 2002.

[Evan @ May 2nd 2008 3:40PM]

I text while driving. I;m 20.