Study: College Students Use Mobile Apps While Driving

A recent study — albeit a small one — by a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that one-third of her fellow students use smartphone applications while driving.

The small set of 93 UAB students isn’t enough of a sample to make firm conclusions, but 10% said they use mobile apps “often,” “almost always” or “always while driving.” More than a third said they use apps “sometimes.” There was no mention of texting being listed separately; however, the study pointed to the need to ban all mobile apps while driving, not just text-message users.

Thirty-three states ban texting while driving, but no state bans mobile apps as a whole, likely because mobile apps can be passive, like Pandora, and don’t require hands-on use while driving.

More Than One-Third of College Students Drive While Using Mobile Apps (UAB News)

Comments

shocking!

i bet they also drink beer while under 21. organize a study to unravel that mystery next!

This is certainly not that shocking like, Cody says.

My guess is that as the smart phone usage increases it won't just be college and teens using them while driving. Remember, it's only been 4 years since the first iPhone appeared. More and more older people are getting these smart phones now too, more out of being forced by cell companies to do so because there are less choices of non-smart phones now and the deals are hard to pass up.

And of course, it's in vogue.

I use my phone for two things in the car: music and navigation. I stream Pandora or the phone's built-in music player through Bluetooth or an aux cable. I passed up the option of a navigation system in my car solely because my phone has turn-by-turn navigation and Google Maps. I see no difference in using these apps versus having an iPod plugged in and a portable navigation system. Is there any reason that these functions are more dangerous on a phone?

Of course they do. Its not just college students who use mobile apps either. Its everyone!