Skip to main content

Watch out! New study shows 1 in 3 smartphone owners use devices while driving

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ever have that one friend that’s always looking at his or her smartphone? Well according to a new survey from McKinsey & Company, many drivers happen to fall under that category.

Of nearly two thousand surveyed drivers, 35 percent admitted to using their smartphone while behind the wheel. To break it down even further, 89 percent of those who use their phone while driving voted that they use their device for making phone calls. With 68 percent of the vote, the second most popular smartphone task was navigation. In third was using SMS-based text messaging at 39 percent, and surfing the Web or using social networks placed in fourth with 31 percent.

Recommended Videos

The report, titled “Mobility of the Future,” also revealed some insight as what age group these drivers tend to fall into. Fifty-five percent of those between the ages of 18 and 39 that were polled said they feel the need to stay connected via mobile devices while in the car. However, only 27 percent in the 40 to 69 age range said the same.

The full report was conducted in June 2012 and reached a total of 4,000 people. Answers from 3,673 were used in the survey, but only 1,949 of these people answered questions about using smartphones while driving.

McKinsey’s findings were revealed at the Detroit Auto Show, but did not provide much detail as to the types of phones used while driving. It’s worth noting that any type of distraction while operating a motor vehicle can be dangerous. A similar report conducted in the UK this past August found that fiddling with Facebook updates while driving could make drivers more likely to drift across lanes or hit the car in front of them, according to Tech Radar.

This type of behavior has pushed UK car insurance company esure to launch an app that addresses these issues. DriveOFF uses GPS technology to automatically disable audio and visual notifications while driving over 10 miles per hour. It’s currently available for free for Android devices, but there’s no word on when this could hit iOS smartphones and tablets.

This isn’t the first report to surface in recent months about the dangers of smartphones. Over the summer, a study outlined the dangers pedestrians face when texting while walking.

Lisa Eadicicco
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Lisa Eadicicco is a technology and video game reporter based in New York City. She graduated from Purchase College in 2012…
I used a new type of smartphone that could replace Android
Two phones running Apostrophy OS, sitting next to each other on a chair.

When you buy a phone today, your first decision is to decide which operating system you want: Android or iOS. We've seen other platforms come and go over the years, from Windows Phone to Palm OS, but Android and iOS remain your two sole choices in 2024.

One of the last things I saw at CES 2024 earlier this month was a smartphone operating system that's trying to be that third choice between Android and iOS. It's called Apostrophy OS (also referred to as AphyOS), and I got to play around with it while also chatting with Apostrophy CEO Steve Cistulli to learn about the could-be Android and iOS alternative.
What is Apostrophy OS?

Read more
Look who just replaced Samsung as king of the global smartphone market
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra's cameras.

Samsung has been sitting pretty at the top of the global smartphone market for more than a decade. Until now, that is.

Data released this week by research firm IDC shows that the Korean tech giant has been knocked off its perch by archrival Apple thanks in part to robust sales of the iPhone.

Read more
How to use your iPhone’s new Journal app in iOS 17.2
Apple Journal app prompt.

When Apple unveiled iOS 17 in June, it came with the announcement of Journal, a surprising new first-party app to help you record your life’s journey.

Although Apple made it clear that Journal wouldn’t be making the cut for the initial release of iOS 17.0 in September, it did promise that it would arrive later in the year — and now it’s here in iOS 17.2.

Read more