Toronto, Ontario — Nearly a quarter of Ontarians engage in distracted driving, despite the majority understanding the danger and believing that the practice is a leading cause of road fatalities.
A RatesDotCA survey found that drivers in Ontario reported being much more likely to engage in distracted driving via non-electronic behaviours.
About 60 percent ate or drank a beverage, while 46 percent thought it was safe. About 52 percent spoke to passengers while 33 percent thought it was safe. Similarly, 42 percent would reach for an object, but only 18 percent thought it was safe.
In contrast, 21 percent reported they were at least somewhat likely to check their phone for messages, 18 percent used a navigation system while 12 percent thought it was safe, and 10 percent took phone calls while only 2 percent thought it was safe.
This figure further dwindles with activities that are seen as chargeable offences or behaviours that require full attention, with 6 percent being somewhat likely to send a text message while only 2 percent thought it was safe.
Thankfully or terrifyingly, 3 percent thought it was safe to take a video while another 2 percent thought it was safe to watch a video while driving.
While more than 90 percent of Ontarians understand that watching or recording a video, and sending text messages constitutes a distracted driving offence, these numbers drastically fell with non-electronic distracted behaviours.
An additional 65 percent understood that reaching for an object was a potential offence, while 52 percent understood the same for talking to a passenger and 45 percent with eating and driving.
