Contrary to popular stereotype, a recent survey conducted by insurance group NRMA found that men are the more distracted of the sexes behind the wheel. It should come as no shock that of the 1,350 individuals surveyed, almost all admitted to being guilty of one driving distraction or another.
The most common offense? Fiddling with the car stereo. Yes, the CD player, radio, MP3 player — perhaps even the tape deck — turned out to be quite the priority, as 76% of drivers admitted to taking their attention off the road to change the station or skip a song (in all fairness, though, 2007 was the year of Nickelback’s “Rockstar”).
Additional distractions included beverage drinking, map checking, insect chasing, newspaper reading, shaving and kissing. Men were the graver culprits, however, with 30% admitting to nearly causing an accident compared to only 20% of women.
Perhaps the most distressing figure is the 20% of both sexes that admitted to texting while driving, which seems to us like the most dangerous distraction of all — short of chasing an insect with a newspaper while making out and drinking a Coke, that is.
Male Drivers More Likely to be Distracted Behind the Wheel (Motor Authority)
