Ford Driver Distraction Study: 1-in-3 Brits Selfie While Driving
Smartphones can be a beautiful thing. They put a world of limitless information and the ability to learn, create, and share all at the tips of your fingers. Despite all of the great things, smartphones are also responsible for one of the worst things to emerge from the 21st century: the selfie.
“Everything I do is important and requires documentation” – Useless American Pseudo-Celebrity
Hundreds of years from now, our alien overthrowers will be driven to enslave earth upon decrypting extraterrestrial signals and being subjected to the horrors of Instagram. As if we needed any more evidence of the undeniable awfulness of the selfie past the fact that someone is paying Kim Kardashian (probably) millions of dollars to publish a coffee book with nothing but pictures of her face in it, we have the results of a Ford driver distraction study that reveals roughly one in four Europeans have taken a selfie while behind the wheel of a car.
Say it with me:
Not a selfie
Ford’s Selfie Infographic Source: Ford (full-size .pdf)
“Taking a ‘selfie’ on a smartphone has for many young people quickly become an integral part of everyday life – but it’s the last thing you should be doing behind the wheel of a car,” said Jim Graham, manager, Ford Driving Skills for Life. “It is deeply worrying that so many young drivers admit to taking a photo while driving and we will be doing all we can to highlight the potential dangers through driver education.”
Ford Driving Skills for Life sponsored the study, which found that Brits are the most likely (33 percent) to snap a selfie while driving, followed by Germans (28 percent), the French (28 percent), Romanians (23 percent), Italians (21 percent), and Spaniards (32 percent).
Distracted Driving infographic Source: Ford (full-size .pdf)
According to studies, taking a selfie requires at least 14 second of a driver’s attention, which means that drivers so wrapped up tightly in their ridiculous vanity will travel about 400 meters with their eyes away from the road.
“The distraction of trying to take a ‘selfie’ immediately places the driver, passengers, pedestrians and other road-users around at risk – and can have potentially fatal consequences,” said Giordano Biserni, president, Association of Supporters and Friends of Traffic Police, Italy. “Driving safely requires a focus on the road ahead and being in control of the vehicle at all times, something we are happy to help reinforce through the Ford Driving Skills for Life programme.”
Real talk: selfies are terrible. People who take excessive selfies are irritating. People who take selfies while driving are car are dangerous and irresponsible. Don’t be an idiot. Facebook will still be there when you park the car.
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.