Driving While Twittering: Social Media Poses Accident Risks

A new study on the use of social media through mobile devices is focusing attention

on the accident risks created when people access social sites while driving.

According to Crowd Science, Twitter users are the most likely to access the social networking site through mobile devices, than users of Facebook and other social media. According to the Crowd Science survey, 11 percent of Twitter users reported accessing the site while driving over the past 30 days. That makes it 1 in every 10 Twitter users accessing the site behind the wheel. In comparison, the use of other social media sites while driving was just 5 percent.

That's not all. 29 percent of Twitter users reported accessing the site from their cars at some point in the past, while only 13 percent of non-users of Twitter accessed social media in their cars.

From the beginning, Twitter has been a much more mobile networking tool, compared to other social media sites. However, according to researchers, while these Twitter statistics are not really surprising, they are still disturbing. The researchers found that only about 27 percent of Twitter users actually Tweet or send out status updates daily. Close to 46 percent of Twitter users only check their updates on a daily basis. Besides, 24 percent of Twitter users or close to a quarter, have never tweeted or sent a status update, or have stopped posting updates altogether. Checking updates takes little attention while driving, compared to actually posting an update on Twitter. While twice as many people on Twitter prefer to only check updates, the fact is that even checking updates does take a driver's attention away from the road.

Approximately 40 percent of Twitter users access the social site via their mobile device at least a few times. Only 32 percent of Facebook users access the site via a mobile device. 8 percent of Twitter users prefer a mobile device to access the site every time. Only 3 percent of Facebook users prefer to access the site using a mobile device every time.

Social sites like Twitter have revolutionized the way we communicate. You can access the Reeves Law Group Twitter feed here. There is no doubt that Twitter allows real-time one-on-one and one-to-many communication easily and efficiently, allowing us to post news, and discuss issues at any time of the day. However, all technology must be used responsibly. Cell phones have impacted our lives in a big way, and there is very little negative that you can say about these devices. However, the debate over use of cell phones while driving weighs heavily in favor of those like many California personal injury lawyers and auto safety advocates, who urge non-usage of these devices while driving. With NHTSA data showing that close to 80 percent of all accidents are caused by distracted drivers, it's important to understand that the place for social media and networking sites is not behind the wheel.

by: Robert Reeves

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