Volvo, the company that hopes to eliminate deaths and serious injury in its cars by 2020, conducted a study with The Harris Poll focusing on distracted driving. And as much as we (I) love to complain about Gen Z and millennials, they aren’t the whole problem. (But they’re definitely part of it.)
So, everyone is busy and distracted, which we already knew. For Gen Z, born mid-1990s to mid-2000s, 51 percent say it’s harder for them to focus on a single task now than it was five years ago. 54 percent say it’s harder to get things done because they get easily distracted.
Overall, 54 percent of Americans, based on two, 2,000-person studies, say they feel anxious when they have too much to do. For Gen Z, this number grows to 77 percent.
More than half of Americans are looking to refocus. How? Lots of ways.
The biggest way (33 percent) is driving in silence, which is heartening because I do it, too. There’s no data that it actually works, but still. A little less (32 percent) turn their phone to the “do not disturb” setting, while others use noise-canceling headphones (19 percent) and 13 percent take a digital detox for one or more days.
The top threat on the road, according to the drivers surveyed, is distracted driving. Almost twice as many people worry more about that than drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Speeding and driving aggressively are very low -- 8 and 3 percent, respectively.
Ninety percent of the people surveyed agree that there are more distractions driving today than there were five years ago. In fact, drivers identify using a phone as the No. 1 distraction behind the wheel (43 percent), surpassing children (11 percent), other passengers (9 percent) and changing the GPS (8 percent) or music (5 percent).
Millennials, of course, and Gen Xers (what!?) use their phones the most behind the wheel, with 81 percent of people admitting it. Gen Z and young boomers are next at 71 and 72 percent, respectively. Old boomers come in at 64 percent, while the Silent Generation is less, but still a healthy 59 percent.
C’mon millennials, get it together! And my own Gen Xers, how could you!?
Another funny, but expected, finding is that everyone thinks other drivers are worse than they are themselves. Subjects think more than 90 percent of people text while driving, though only about 60 percent admit to doing it. Just over 20 percent admit to posting on social media while driving, but people think 90 percent of drivers actually do it. Reading emails: about 90 percent to about 35 percent; video chatting: 88 percent to 20 percent; surfing the web: 88 percent to about 25 percent.
Obviously, Volvo has a stake in our distracted driving, and like other manufacturers, it’s adding voice commands, steering wheel controls, head-up displays and more to keep us paying attention. And even I’ll admit to being distracted behind the wheel sometimes.
The moral of the story? It’s not just everyone else that’s distracted; it’s you and me too. So let’s double our efforts, keep our heads up and eyes on the road. And keep those cellphones in your pocket. At least go hands-free.
