In San Diego County, almost 80 percent of college students admit to talking and texting while driving, even when it’s illegal.
According to a study by UC San Diego, out of 5,000 college students surveyed, half of them said they send and receive text messages while driving.
“This public health risk is the new DUI, driving under the influence of distractions. We can’t wait another generation for this problem to improve. We need to change this behavior,” said Dr. Linda Hill from UCSD’s Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.
Researchers say the study proved that distracted driving is comparable to driving under the influence, and that these students are “overly confident” in their driving skills.
Forty-six percent of the students said they were capable of talking on a cell phone and driving.
The California Highway Patrol gave out more than 168,000 citations in 2011 for using a cellphone while driving.
Citations are a minimum of $159 for violating either the hands-free or no texting law, but the price goes up for subsequent tickets.
The cost of being a distracted driver is high literally, but it’s even higher when accidents happen, the study said.