I thought it would be higher

by DRM

Text while dri­ving? Thought every­one did.

That’s cause I’ve got my head down texting.…uh-huh.

26% of Mobile Users Text While Driving

Despite an increas­ing num­ber of state bans on dri­ving while tex­ting (DWT) and numer­ous reports of texting-related acci­dents, more than one-fourth (26%) of US mobile-phone users send and/or receive text mes­sages while behind the wheel, finds a study from Vlingo.

Not sur­pris­ingly, the propen­sity for DWT varies by age. Almost 60% of the US’s youngest dri­vers (ages 16 – 19) admit to DWT as do 49% of those ages 20–29, Vlingo said.  The per­cent­ages get lower for older respon­dents (as do the per­cent­ages for tex­ting in gen­eral), but 13% of peo­ple in their 50s still admit to DWT.

  • In 2008, 85% of teens and 20-somethings used texting.

  • In 2009, 94% of teens and 87% of 20-somethings used texting.

  • Among those in their 40s, usage jumped from 56% to 64.

  • For those in their 50s use of tex­ting jumped from 38% to 46%.