Many Kansas City residents might think that, at least among working adults, people who choose to engage in texting and driving are communicating with their bosses or other professional colleagues.
While many employees, over 40 percent, admitted that they were willing to respond to texts from their bosses in order to be available to them, the reality is that texting and driving is more often than not unrelated to one’s work.
Breaking it down, a recent report found that only about one in three drivers who engaged in communication were actually talking to a professional contact. On the other hand, almost 45 percent of drivers admitted that they were willing to communicate with their spouse or significant other while driving. Interestingly, almost one in four of the drivers surveyed said they were willing to text and drive with their children. Friends were also the frequent recipients of behind-the-wheel texts.
When one considers exactly why people text and drive, these numbers may make a bit more sense. Of those asked, over 60 percent of them said the reason they choose to text and drive is that they are worried there might be an emergency involving a loved one. Almost one in four of the drivers asked said that they text and drive because they do not want to miss out on something important.
Even if being concerned with an emergency at home is noble in itself, this doesn’t take away from the fact that distracted driving, even for what seems like good reasons, endangers the lives of other motorists, as it can easily cause a fatal auto accident. Moreover, there would rarely if ever be an emergency that is so serious it requires an immediate response.
