Distracted Driving Is the New Normal

A new study finds that U.S. drivers drive distracted more often than they devote their full attention to the road.

1 minute read

March 10, 2016, 10:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"Researchers with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) have a theory," according to an article by Aarian Marshall, "American drivers have simply gotten worse at driving."

The researchers, led by Tom Dingus, the director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, published a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finding "that people behind the wheels of passenger vehicles are distracted more than 50 percent of the time." The main culprit in this new era of distracted driving, according to the study is the cell phone, of course, but there are other forms of distraction as well.

The article includes more details of the study's methodology and more examples from the study's findings.

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