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Get off the phone!! Seven out of ten US drivers put theirs and your lives at risk

Texting on the road the equivalent of four beers, says experts

Over two-thirds of drivers are dangerously distracted by their smartphones.

That's according to a survey of over 2,000 US road users quizzed about their activities while piloting a ton or so of metal down the freeway at high speed.

In all, 61 per cent of drivers admitted to sending or reading text messages while behind the wheel, a third said they regularly checked their email, and over a quarter are checking out websites on the internet.

Social networking while putting lives at risk is also popular, with 27 per cent of respondents admitting using Facebook, with 14 per cent using Twitter and Instagram and 11 per cent using Snapchat. This isn't just a one-off use either – 30 per cent of Twitter users said they used the site while driving "all the time."

Most disturbingly, one in eight said they had shot a video while driving and 17 per cent had snapped a selfie – hopefully without the need for a selfie stick. One in ten drivers engaged in video calls while tooling down the freeway.

Problem getting bigger

Distracted driving is a fast-growing problem in the US and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports thousands of deaths each year that can be attributed to people using their phones while on the road - 3,328 in 2012 alone. Using a phone causes a similar loss of concentration and reaction time as drinking four large beers, it found.

Not that the two are mutually exclusive. Last month in Florida a court heard that a 22-year old woman crashed into a truck, killing her friend who had come along for the ride. Phone records show that three minutes before the crash she texted "Driving drunk woo."

Figures released earlier this week by the National Safety Council found 27 per cent of all crashes are now caused by drivers distracted by technology, the third year in a row that figure has risen. It's predominantly younger drivers that are the problem and even using a hands-free device to make calls increases the likelihood of a crash significantly.

The current survey was carried out on behalf of AT&T as part of the firm's "It can wait" campaign – a five year-old public awareness project to alert customers to the dangers of distracted driving.

"When we launched 'It Can Wait' five years ago, we pleaded with people to realize that no text is worth a life," said Lori Lee, AT&T's global marketing officer. "The same applies to other smartphone activities that people are doing while driving. For the sake of you and those around you, please keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone." ®

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