State Farm asks: Are Americans “Driving Dumber’ in smarter cars?

Nashville, TN – State Farm® recently conducted an online survey and found that Americans who drive vehicles with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) or Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), both advanced driver assist features, admit to using their smart phones while driving at significantly higher rates than those without the latest tech.

Drivers with advanced safety tech in their vehicles are taking more risks.

The State Farm survey shows the following behaviors in people driving smarter cars vs cars without these advance features .

Behaviors

• Read or sent messages while driving – 62% of people with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) or Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), vs. 49% and 51% without those features.
• Interacting with cell phone apps – 56% and 54% with ACC and LKA vs 42% and 44% without them
• Holding phone while talking in the car – 60% and 63% with ACC and LKA vs 50% and 51% without them.
• Manually entering a phone number – 52% and 56% with ACC and LKA vs 38 % without them

Drivers still need to stay engaged when behind the wheel. This type of advanced safety technology is there to assist the driver, not replace the driver. Here are some tips to be as smart as your smart car while you drive:

Do Not

• Read or send text messages or emails.
• Talk on the phone unless its connected to the car audio
• Take selfies or film videos
• Enter destinations into GPS while the car is moving

Please Do

• Pull over and park in a safe location if it is necessary to use your phone.
• Set your phone to send an automatic reply while you are driving.
• Ask your passenger to make a call or text for you.
• Nothing that takes your attention away from your number one task — driving safe.

 

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About State Farm®

The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its nearly 19,000 agents and approximately 58,000 employees serve approximately 83 million policies and accounts – approximately 81 million auto, fire, life, health and commercial policies and approximately 2 million bank accounts.

Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 36 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.

Methodology

During March and April 2019, State Farm conducted an online survey of U.S. consumers age 18 or older to collect feedback on their perceptions of various distracted driving behaviors. Survey responses were received from 1,023 general market consumers. Quotas were set so that responses would be representative of the U.S. population in terms of age and gender.

In addition, consumers must have indicated having a valid driver’s license and driving at least one hour per week to be included in the study. The majority of drivers (64 percent) said they didn’t own a vehicle with either of these technologies. Approximately three in ten drivers (29 percent) reported owning a vehicle with ACC and/or LKA.