OMG LOL: New study says 93% of Americans favor banning text messaging while driving

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology, Ford

Maybe it’s not surprising that Ford commissioned a study that helps bolster a sales case for some of its in-car-electronics, but the Blue Oval seems to have its finger on the pulse of the nation this time. Market researchers Penn, Schoen & Berland polled 1,000 drivers and found that 93% of them agree with the notion of a nationwide ban on texting. Those drivers seemed to be realists, however, with only 42% believing that the same idiots who punch out communiques instead of attentively piloting their 3,500 pound projectiles would actually curtail the behavior if a ban were enacted.

Ford, of course, has a solution with its SYNC voice activation technology. Fully 76% of the respondents expressed interest in a vehicle with technology like that of the Blue Oval, which is probably the main point of the survey in the first place. It’s likely safer to keep a driver looking down the road with his or her hands on the wheel instead of fiddling with a handheld, but there’s still an issue of distraction when a driver’s thinking more about chatting instead of steering, as many studies regarding the use of hands-free phones in automobiles have shown.

For its part, Ford has been looking into driving distractions for a long time, and technology like SYNC and MyKey are the results. There’s not yet a speech-to-text function, but if a ban gets enacted, look for Dearborn to be ready with just such a system to sell you.

[Source: Motor Trend | Image: Edbrown05 via CC 2.0]

OMG LOL: New study says 93% of Americans favor banning text messaging while driving originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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