Skip to main content

CAA: Majority of Canadians believe texting while driving has got worse

83% of Canadians surveyed believe that texting while driving has got worse over the past three years and is also their number one concern alongside drink driving, according to the latest research from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). In addition, 96% said that drivers who text are a threat to their personal safety on the road.
January 2, 2018 Read time: 1 min
83% of Canadians surveyed believe that texting while driving has got worse over the past three years and is also their number one concern alongside drink driving, according to the latest research from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). In addition, 96% said that drivers who text are a threat to their personal safety on the road.


CAA’s findings are based on a poll of 2,003 Canadians carried out in November, which also showed that other distractions while driving such as emailing, talking on mobile phones and talking to/engaging with in-car technologies are increasingly becoming an issue.

Jeff Walker, chief strategy officer, CAA National, said: "Despite anti-texting and driving laws in all provinces across the country and several years of public education campaigns, Canadians still don't seem to be getting the message.”

"Studies show drivers are as much as 23 times more likely to get into a collision when they text and drive. It's important we all put our devices down and stay focused on the road”, Walker added.

UTC

Related Content

  • April 2, 2020
    Distraction danger rises with in-car tech, says TRL
    The increasing sophistication of in-car technology is creating new dangers in terms of driver distraction, a new study finds.
  • November 23, 2017
    Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.
  • December 24, 2015
    Britain’s Christmas drinking habits revealed
    Seasonal research into Britain’s drinking habits highlights that over a quarter of British adults (26 per cent) will consume more than 15 units of alcohol over Christmas, 24 to 26 December – the equivalent of 12.9 million people. This is well over the National Health Service’s recommended consumption of 9-12 units for men and 6-9 units for women over a three day period.
  • February 1, 2012
    ITS needs continuity at the policy-making level
    ITS needs to be sold to politicians in plainer terms and we need to be encouraging greater continuity at the policy-making level says Josef Czako, chairman of the IRF's Policy Committee on ITS. At the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008, the International Road Federation (IRF) held the inaugural meeting of its Policy Committee on ITS. The Policy Committee's formation, says its chairman, Kapsch's Josef Czako, reflects an ongoing concern over the lack of deployment of ITS technology on roads in anything li