New Study Reveals Singing Out Loud is Top Activity While Driving; One in Four Admit to Texting

DAYTONA BEACH, FL--March 18, 2014: Singing out loud is the number one activity while driving, according to a consumer survey from DMEautomotive released in conjunction with National Collision Awareness month. And more dangerous distracted driving activities such as sending/receiving a text, talking on the phone, and eating, rank in the top five activities performed while driving.

While singing out loud doesn't make distraction.gov's list of distracted driving activities, the rest in the top five do. This is sobering given that in 2012 alone, 3,328 people were killed in distracted-driving crashes.[1] And, according to the DMEa survey, younger drivers are much more likely to be multi-tasking while driving: roughly 9 in 10 admit to engaging in other activities while driving – and they are significantly more likely to be doing every single distracted driving behavior measured in the survey from texting, eating, talking on phone, using email, watching TV, working on laptop, changing clothes and putting on makeup.

The survey also revealed that women are more avid 'car-aokers' than men, and they are also more likely to eat or have a phone conversation while driving.

The DMEautomotive survey, which was fielded among approximately 2,000 consumers in late 2013, measured activities consumers engaged in while driving in the past month.

"It's not surprising that singing out loud tops our list, but it's deeply disturbing to see how much multiscreen, multi-tasking is going on in cars: people texting, reading emails and the paper, and watching TV. And how a smaller, but considerable, percentage (5-7%) are treating their cars as an extension of their home/bathroom by shaving, brushing or flossing their teeth, putting on makeup or deodorant and changing their clothes while driving," said Dr. Mary Sheridan, Manager of Research and Analytics at DMEa.

Distracted.gov defines distracted driving as any activity that could divert a person's attention away from the primary task of driving. And, as reported in the Harvard Mental Health Letter: Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief, says that although people like to think they can multitask, cognitive research suggests that the brain tends to focus on one major activity at a time.[2]

"During National Collision Month, we hope this data will help raise awareness about the ongoing problem of distracted driving, which has been made more complex given the proliferation of phones, tablets and various 'pods' people now regularly use -- and especially among young people, who are the worst offenders," said Sheridan.

Key Findings:

In addition to the top five activities listed above, consumers are indulging in a broad range of activities, treating the car as extension of their home: between 5-7% shave, brush or floss their teeth, put on makeup or deodorant or change their clothes!

 

The YOUNG are far more likely to multi-task, and put themselves and others in danger, when driving – across virtually every category. 

Those under 35 are more than twice as likely to read or send a text (46% vs. 19%), and four times as likely to read or send an email (29% vs. 7%). Millennials are multiscreen multi-taskers  - and no surprise –they are bringing that behavior inside the car.  And given that young drivers 18 to 20 report the highest level of phone involvement  (13%) at the time of a crash or near-crash and 16% of all distracted driving crashes involve drivers under 20[3], this is a scary reality.

 

Women are more likely to sing than men, but men are more likely to email, watch TV, read or work: