Distracted driving is an ongoing problem. A new State Farm poll proves once again that the roads are full of idiots. One in five of the 912 drivers State Farm informally surveyed in November admitted to accessing the Internet on their smartphones while driving. The insurance company will conduct a deeper study soon, and the 19 percent who admitted to surfing and driving in this study may actually be low for certain groups of drivers. Teenagers and young adults are more tethered to their phones than just about everyone else, and they're also the least experienced drivers, a recipe for danger on the roads with a likely higher percentage of smartphone use while driving.

Despite the guilty drivers acknowledging the dangers of paying attention to a device instead of the road, none seem too repentant. "I'm not saying it's the smartest thing in the world," says Sean Black, a 38 year old Illinois resident, "but I guess I just do it anyway." As with texting and driving, or even concentrating more on a phone call than piloting your automobile, many feel that only a near-accident or actual crash is going to modify this behavior. Even then, it will be on a case-by-case basis, and it puts the lives and well-being of innocents at the mercy of those too indolent to change their habits.

[Source: USA Today | Image: Corbis]

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