A SURVEY BY Queensland law firm Smith’s Lawyers has uncovered that Australia is a nation of distracted drivers, with an alarming number of people citing inattention on the road due to selfies, social media and even attractive pedestrians.
The findings, the first in a series of surveys by Smith’s regarding Australian driver safety, confirmed that social media vanity, including posting Facebook or Twitter updates, was dangerously common, with 71.4% of all respondents admitting to using their mobile phone to text, online chat, use a social media app or even take a selfie while driving in the past six months.
While younger drivers were more likely to post a selfie, nearly half of middle-aged male drivers admitted to being distracted by attractive pedestrians. (Speaking for myself, I can assure you this isn’t an inevitable consequence of getting older – I’ve been easily distracted by an attractive pedestrian since my teens. On the other hand, I’ve never felt the irresistible urge to take or post a selfie while driving.)
But from the results of the survey, it appears I may be in the minority. Taking a selfie while driving and uploading it to Instagram, was mostly concentrated among Australians aged between 18 and 24 years (9.3%), while 35-44 year-old males were the most likely demographic to have been distracted by an attractive pedestrian while driving (49.2%).
More traditional vanity also makes an appearance in the survey results, with women more likely to report that they put on makeup or otherwise fixed their looks in the car (15.6% of those surveyed) while 7.7% of men surveyed admitted shaving or doing their hair.
Managing Director of Smith’s Lawyers, Greg Smith, whose firm helps Australians affected by at-fault drivers, said it was a worrying trend that could impact many lives.
“What we’re seeing is an alarming trend toward letting social media, the internet, and selfie-taking affect drivers’ better judgment. Unfortunately, it only takes a split second of driver inattention to have life changing consequences,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith compared the reaction times of those using social media to a drunk driver.
As for the inevitable distraction of shapely young ladies or blokes, just show some self-control people, for god’s sake!