It may be a common perception that Los Angeles residents, at least those who are out in the professional world, feel like they have to text and drive in order to keep their jobs or, at a minimum, stay on the cutting edge in their professional lives.
In fact, according to a recent study, many employees, well over one in three, said that they must stay in touch with their bosses during the day and so are willing to take an email or a text communication from them while they are on the road.
Interestingly, though, it seems that loved ones are those who are most likely to take a California motorist’s attention off the road long enough so that they can respond to electronic communication.
Among all drivers, almost 45 percent said that they were willing to communicate with their spouse or significant other. Another 33 percent, about one-third, of drivers said that they were willing to pick up the phone while on the road for a friend, and almost 25 percent said that they would do so for one of their children.
The primary reason people chose to text and drive in these cases, despite all of the rules and warnings against it, was that they were afraid that the text would be an urgent message. In other words, they were worried about the people closest to them.
Still, this sort of behavior really has no excuse, as even in an emergency, a driver almost always has a minute or two to pull over to a safe location before texting and driving.
Moreover, as the warmer months wrap up, distracted driving can be of particular danger to motorcyclists, since a distracted driver is less likely to see a motorcycle rider stopping, approaching an intersection, turning or coming up alongside them. Any one of these circumstances can lead to serious or even deadly motorcycle accidents.
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