Canadians may perceive distracted driving as wrong, but it doesn’t stop them from doing it.  According to a new poll, while a vast majority thinks driving while being distracted is unacceptable, nearly 3 Canadian drivers out of 4 admit to driving distracted. 

For the purpose of the survey conducted for Allstate Canada by Leger Marketing, distracted driving was defined as any “visual, manual or cognitive distractions. The most common are talking on a mobile phone or texting while driving, changing a CD, eating or drinking, using an electronic device such as a GPS, applying makeup, or being preoccupied with passengers.”

The poll confirmed that texting while driving is a hot issue, as 88% of the respondent said they had a negative perception of such practice, as opposed to 29% who had a negative view of eating while driving and 19% who had a negative view of adjusting the radio or an iPod.

According to Allstate Canada, 80% of collisions are caused by distracted driving.  In the poll, 25% of Canadians say they knew someone in an accident caused by a distracted driver.  The numbers went up to 37%for drivers between the ages of 18 to 24.

“Our research shows that Canadians do not fully understand what is considered to be a distraction while driving and continue to engage in those dangerous behaviors,” said Saskia Matheson of Allstate Insurance Company of Canada in a news release.

The province of Alberta leads the country in most distracted-driving behaviors such as texting, talking on the phone, eating or drinking, but it had the lowest rate for grooming while driving at just 2%.

The survey was conducted between July 26 and July 28 with 1,605 Canadian adults interviewed.

Source: CTV, October 4, 2010; CBC News, October 5, 2010

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