48% of U.S. drivers age 18 to 24 admit to texting while driving

August 12, 2008 by admin

According to a new survey by FindLaw, almost half of U.S. drivers between 18 and 24 state they have sent a text message, IM or e-mail while driving. But, thankfully, less than 2% of drivers age 55 and over admitted to the same multitasking urge.

FindLaw broke its survey results down by age group:

48% of those 18 to 24 admitted to texting while driving
27% of 25-34 year-olds
19% of 35-44 year-olds
11% of those between 45-54
2% of those between 55-64
and 1% of the over 65 population

While four says have recently signed laws banning texting while driving, Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney at FindLaw.com, points out that “The potential legal implications of texting while driving go far beyond the possibility of a mere traffic violation. In the case of a traffic accident, proof that the driver was texting while driving may be used to help prove liability for the accident, even in says that do not ban texting while driving.”

And there’s also the more serious danger of an accident, where texting couldn’t only prove you liable, but also dead.

FindLaw stated it conducted its survey “using a demographically balanced telephone survey of 1,000 American adults and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percent.”