October 08, 2009

Survey Reveals Which Driver Distractions Are More Dangerous than Texting

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Everyone is talking about the dangers of texting while driving and even President Obama recently signed an executive order instructing federal workers from sending text messages while driving government vehicles. But are there other driving distractions more dangerous than texting that have plagued drivers for years?

LeaseTrader.com polled more than 3,000 drivers nationwide and asked men and women if there are other more dangerous distractions. Texting while driving is getting all the attention right now but you might be surprised at what people had to say.

LeaseTrader.com, the nation's most popular online marketplace for car lease transfers, set up the survey to take the pulse of American drivers. In the survey 18.3 percent of men think road rage and the temptation for revenge is the highest distraction today. They also think things like checking out other drivers (10.9 percent) and other passenger conversations (9.5 percent) are bigger dangers than texting while driving (7.6 percent).

Naturally, women had other distractions in mind and say kids in the car is the largest concern for distraction (26.3 percent). Interestingly enough, women also believe that texting while driving (4.2 percent) is even less of a concern than men, and putting on makeup (16.6 percent) and avoiding inclement weather (8.4 percent) pose a greater risk.

"Although texting while driving can be very dangerous, these findings indicate that drivers seem to be almost immune to many other distractions that have been around for a long time," said Sergio Stiberman, CEO and founder of LeaseTrader.com. "People can become so absorbed with their conversations or activities that concentrating on driving gets impaired even without texting."

Percentage of drivers that believe the following is the most dangerous distraction today:

Men:

Road Rage Frustration (18.3%)

Eating/Drinking (14.7%)

Checking Out Other Drivers (10.9%)

Kids in Car (9.8%)

Other Passenger Conversations (9.5%)

Reading Paper (9.3%)

Texting While Driving (7.6%)

Messing With Radio (7.1%)

Navigation (4.2%)

Avoiding Inclement Weather (4.0%)

Shaving (3.2%)

Other (1.4%)

Women:

Kids in Car (26.3%)

Putting on Makeup (16.6%)

Messing With Radio (10.4%)

Navigation (9.5%)

Avoiding Inclement weather (8.4%)

Other Passengers in Vehicle (7.1%)

Eating/Drinking (6.8%)

Texting While Driving (4.2%)

Reading (3.1%)

In-Car Video (2.5%)

Road Rage Frustration (2.4%)

Other (2.7)

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