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Survey: 76% of drivers in B.C. think emailing and texting is “just as dangerous as drinking and driving”
Ready for some more survey stats? This time it’s out of B.C. from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and Ipsos Reid stating that “B.C. drivers seem to be getting the message that using a cellphone or other hand-held devices while driving is extremely dangerous”. They polled 917 drivers and found that 76% think emailing and texting is “just as dangerous as drinking and driving”. Here are some other stats:
- 87% say texting or emailing on a hand held device is very risky
- 50% consider talking on a hand held cell phone to be as risky as drinking and driving
- 65% say that talking on a hand held cell phone is very risky.
- 91% say reading while driving is very risky
- 78% say driving while sleepy or exhausted is very risky
- 72% say personal grooming while driving is very risky
- 16% say they have talked on a hand held cell phone while driving over the past 12 months
- 9% say they have texted or emailed on a hand held device while driving over the past 12 months
- most common excuses to those who admitted to talking while driving: “I use the speakerphone function”,”it was a very short call and “I pulled over after answering the phone”
- 60% of drivers say they feel “irritated” when they see others disobey the ban
Do you obey the ban?
Source: CNW
Discussion
21 comments for “Survey: 76% of drivers in B.C. think emailing and texting is “just as dangerous as drinking and driving””
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I think having a reason to have this look on your face while driving is dangerous, regardless of what you’re doing.
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I was reading this on my smartphone while driving I found that ironic lol
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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I’ve been hit twice in the last year from behind at extremely low speeds from jackasses texting and not paying attention (fast enough that it cost them a grand to repair my bumper though). So clearly it doesn’t matter what the speed is. Thumbs down to you.
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76 percent of the i****s in BC think it is fun to destroy their own city if they lose a stupid hockey game as well. Why do we care what these i****s think anyway?
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Sheesh, most of those people that rioted in Vancouer were NOT from Vancouver! Many of them came from Vancouer Island, Langley, Abotsford, even some from the US and Alberta. The Vancouverites cleaned the city up the next day.
And BC has had this ban on for a while and people still does this crap, there’s a reason why accident rates has skyrocketed lately. Like I said in another post, Kelowna is notoriously bad right now.
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Technobug, Langley and abbotsford are particular the GVRD. But to lump the riots to this is non-sensical.
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driving is a touchy subject for me because Ive been doing it everyday for the past 20 years. Sometimes I get really mad at the state of BC’s road system… esp. around new westminster… the royal city, or should I say the royal pain in the arse city. I do not play with the phone while driving, but more often than not, Im stuck in traffic or waiting at a traffic light. What is supposed to be a 20 minute drive turns out to be more than 45 minutes. Most of which is waiting. So, obviously, Im not going to sit there and look spaced out. Needless to say, if the only thing the municipal or provincial governments can do is to put up new fines and fees, then I will not be obeying them. It seems like rather than fixing the problem, they just do a quick fix fine as that seems to be the easiest way to patch the problem and make a little money on the side.
If they really wanted to fix the problem, dont give drivers an incentive to pick up the phone. Keeping the flow of traffic moving should be a top priority. Designate a fast lane and a slow lane and enforce it. Eliminate traffic lights and create overpasses. If that’s not possible, coordinate them so we don`t have to stop at every one. If drivers realize that they will get to their destination sooner, then that will make all the difference.
Finally, people are not going to stop talking on the phone, so one other solution is to teach people how to do it safely in drivers ed. I’m still surprised that drivers ed still does not teach people high speed maneuvering. It should be mandatory like in other countries. I mean, you could go through drivers ed, take the exam, pass and be driving on the road without ever exceeding 40kmh. Then be expected to know how to drive at 90kmh on the highway and be able to do maneuvers when something unexpected happens.
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Actually, they do teach evasive maneuvers. And on the graduated test you have to merge onto a freeway, keep speed, and exit.
Traffic sucks in rush hour no matter where you are. That s**t ton of construction you pass on a daily basis is them trying to fix it. Stop making excuses and stay off the phone.
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LOL… really? It is not mandatory in BC to take drivers ed. It is not mandatory to learn evasive maneuvers. All that is required in the learners stage is that a “qualified supervisor” (one who has a class 5 license and is 25 years or older) be there while you learn. This could be the same type of person who couldn’t merge onto the freeway.
The construction happening right now is not fixing anything because the problem is inside New westminster… and there is no construction to fix anything.
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And 76% of them actually do it! lol
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Only 9% admit to having done anything on they’re cell while driving? seriously?
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t use they’re phone while driving on a daily basis.
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at least if I’m texting and driving, I won’t spill anything
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And whats the percentage of police officers, or public bus drivers, o taxi drivers that use their cellphone while driving. I still see on a daily basis police officers on their cellphone and weaving in and out of their lane. and lots of times I see Oc transpo bus drivers in Ottawa using their cellphones while driving. And every time I take a taxi ride home the cabie’s are always using their cellphone. So if police officers can do it, its perfectly ok for us to do it. If they don’t have to obey the law either should we. And I also see police officers never wearing their set belts, so if they don’t have to obey that law, neither should we.
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And what about police officers always looking down to their on board computers while driving, and always weaving all over the road.
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A friend of mine is a police officer, they train you to drive and use the onboard computer, those that swerve need to go back for more training.
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I find a couple drinks, some angry emails and a dirty text to an ex girlfriend actually help me drive BETTER. Must just be me.
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Placebo effects are great, aren’t they?
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Recently I was driving behind a car that was swerving all over the road, I was getting ready to call the cops to report the person as a drunk driver. I changed lanes to pass the swerving car and I glanced at the driver as I passed by. It was a young guy texting on his phone that was sitting in his lap. What a moron.
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Love the Ericsson T-28W (World) GSM phone patronage in that picture
A Fido first.
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