Survey: Parents Tend to Be More Distracted Than Other Adult Drivers
Ford, known for its love of commissioning and conducting studies and surveys among other things, recently conducted a survey of drivers in Asia Pacific to learn more about the perils of distraction. What it found was that parents tend to be the more distracted adult drivers, with 43% of drivers with children having been distracted behind the wheel at some point or another compared to 40% of respondents without kids.
According to Ford, 41% of all fathers responding to the survey said that they were distracted by mobile phones behind the wheel, with another 27% citing social media as a distraction and another 26% saying the imperative to read or watch something was their source of distraction. Among mothers, 40% said they were distracted by other passengers in the vehicle.
Ford is using this information to help promote the growth of its Driving Skills for Life program, which is expanding into 11 Asia Pacific markets in 2017 and emphasizes ways to minimize distracted driving.
“Ford is committed to helping raise awareness of road safety and educating drivers on safe driving practices,” said Cynthia Williams, director, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, Ford Asia Pacific. “Phones are a great distraction normally, but behind the wheel they can be life threatening.”
Of those who said that they use or have used their phones while driving, 62% say that they have done so in order to take personal phone calls, 46% say that they have taken business calls, and 59% say that they have done so while stopped in traffic or at a light.
Interestingly, more respondents said that they would refrain from using their phones on account of weather or seeing a police officer as opposed to refraining from doing so when a passenger—such as a child or significant other—was in the vehicle with them. 55% went so far as to say that they do not have an issue using their phone while a child is in the car with them.
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