Many Icelanders Text While Driving

Almost all Icelanders believe texting while driving is wrong, but about a third of them do it anyway.

RÚV reports that, according to a new Gallup poll conducted for the Icelandic Transport Authority, 77% of drivers between the ages of 25 and 34 admitted to texting while driving.

Younger drivers showed slightly more caution, as only 58% of those aged 18 to 24 said they have texted behind the wheel, as did about 50% of those between 35 to 44 years of age.

In all, about 35% of all drivers said they text while driving – even though 98% of them said they believe it is wrong to do so.

According to data from the Icelandic Transport Authority, the chances of getting in a car accident triple when driving while texting, dialing, or looking at your phone. On average, drivers spend about 4.6 seconds looking at their phone when reading or sending a text – the equivalent of traversing the length of a football pitch, if travelling 90 kmh, without looking up from the phone.