The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Over The Air

Mobility Breifing Center -- Sponsored by Windows Mobile
Topics:   Mobile

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Texting While Driving Redux


Posted by Eric Zeman, Aug 10, 2007 05:18 PM

As a follow up to the story I wrote the other day about texting while driving, I decided to conduct a highly unscientific little experiment. I took a stroll around my New Jersey neighborhood and looked in each car as it zoomed past. You'd be surprised to learn how many people weren't paying attention to the road.

It was exactly 50%. Fully half the drivers I saw were doing something other than paying attention to the road in front of them.

During the course of my walk, 82 cars passed me. Of the 82, 41 of the drivers were staring straight down the road, doing what they're supposed to be doing. The other 41, however, were distracted by any number of things. Several were eating. Several were looking for something in their car. One guy was messing with his GPS unit on the dashboard. But the bulk of the distracted people were paying attention to cell phones.

Of the 82 drivers, 33 (that's 40%) were talking on their cell phones or looking at their cell phones. Whether they were sending SMS messages or scrolling through their contacts list or looking at the in-box is impossible to say. Whatever they were doing, their full faculties weren't being focused on guiding their vehicles safely down the street. The use of cellular phones while driving is illegal in New Jersey, and has been for a while.

Obviously, I had no control over the sample of drivers, and only took notes for a period of 45 minutes. Had I taken a larger sampling over a longer period of time, my results could have been drastically different. Still. In the brief time I was paying attention to what other drivers were doing, 50% of them weren't. Scary.

« The Wall Street Journal's Irresponsible -- And Dangerous -- Attack On Corporate IT | Main | Thumbs Surgically Altered For iPhone? Think Again »



Sign up now for the weekly InformationWeek Blog Newsletter.


This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




Mobile Video


Sign Up For The Over The Air Newsletter
Every Friday, our experts and analysts explore the business, strategy, and management issues most important to mobile and wireless technology.

Sign up for our free, weekly newsletter today!

Newsletter Archives




  1. Twitter In Controversial Spotlight Amid Mumbai Attacks
  2. Google Round Up: Evil Layoffs, Chrome Speed Test, Street Views
  3. iPhone 2.2 Images Hit The Web
  4. iPhone Firmware 2.2 Breaking Some Apps
  5. Don't Shut Off Vista UAC, There's A Better Way


  1. Amazon Opens SimpleDB To Unlimited Public Beta
  2. Google Chrome Browser To Support Customization
  3. Cell Phone Users Increasingly Satisfied With Their Service
  4. Cell Phones More Distracting Than Chatty Passengers
  5. WiMax Future Remains Unclear With Clearwire
  6. Texas Instruments Ranked Top MID Platform Vendor

 
 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
  JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007
AUGUST 2007
JULY 2007
JUNE 2007