Quite often we focus on the danger of texting or talking on a cellphone while driving. And while of course this is still extremely dangerous, and one of the cause of accidents on Tennessee roadways, it turns out there's also been an increase in the number of drivers who are surfing the Internet while driving.
Recently, the insurance company State Farm conducted a survey to see how many drivers surf the web while driving. A similar question was also asked of a population in 2009, which gave room to measure key differences.
In 2009, of those drivers between 18 and 29 years old, 32 percent admitted to checking email while driving. In 2012, the percentage rose to 43 percent. However, the increase was not only seen among younger drivers, as across the board there was an increase in the number of drivers in some way using the Internet when driving.
With the increase in social media and smartphones, it should also come as no surprise that more and more drivers are connecting to their Twitter or Facebook accounts while driving. In 2009, just 9 percent reported updating social networking sites when driving. In 2012 the percentage jumped to 13 percent. More drivers also reported checking the social networking sites, with 9 percent admitting to checking in 2009 and 15 percent admitting to the same dangerous behavior this year.
In general, it's important to keep in mind that any type of distracted driving is dangerous. For all it takes is one quick second of sending off an email, looking up directions or reading a friend's status update for there to be an accident that could have been prevented had the driver just been paying attention.