Even though it's illegal in Michigan, a high percent of young adult drivers admit to using social media while driving.
41% of 400 20 to 30 year-old drivers in Michigan admitted in a recent survey to reading, manually typing, or sending a text message while behind the wheel.
The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning conducted the survey to raise awareness and educate drivers about the dangers of texting and driving.
Last year, there were 7,516 crashes due to distracted driving. That resulted in 28 fatalities and over 3,400 injuries.
Kendall Wingrove of the Office of Highway Safety Planning says it's a problem that cuts across all ages and parent drivers should keep their texting and driving in check to send an important message to their children.
"And we hope to encourage parents not to text while driving because their children are watching, and then some day, those children are going to grow up to be young teen drivers and young adult drivers. And more is caught than taught there that these parents are basically setting an example that their children will follow some day."
Despite the danger, 51% of those questioned admitted to texting at night, and 22% had texted when it was snowing.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
