Majority of Quebecers polled admit to distracted driving

Denis Talbot took up flying years ago and remembers the day he went to show off his new GPS to his flight instructor.

“My instructor took the GPS, put it in a locker and closed the door,” Talbot recalled on Monday.

“He said: ‘First learn how to figure out your position (in the air) with a map, then you can use the GPS.’”

The struggle to learn the basics rather than use technology as a shortcut certainly isn’t limited to flying and Talbot, a technology specialist and spokesperson for a survey on distracted driving, has the numbers to suggest the struggle isn’t limited to using a GPS.

The online survey, conducted for Allstate Insurance Canada by Léger Marketing, found that 91 per cent of the 1,013 respondents admitted to engaging in some sort of distracted driving, yet only 22 per cent acknowledged that their conduct constituted any risk.

Thirty-eight per cent said they used in-car functions to control their music system while driving, and 35 per cent said they used hands-free systems to text or read emails. Another 23 per cent said they adjusted their GPS systems while on the road, and 25 per cent admitted to the illegal practice of using their smartphones to make a call, text or email, take a picture or use social media while driving.

For Talbot, the growing presence of technology in a car’s dashboard in unavoidable.

However, the fundamentals of safe driving — turning your head to check blind spots, visually confirming what’s behind you while backing up — are as essential today as they were when the most complicated device on dashboards was a digital clock.

He also expressed concern over the false sense of security that comes with bells, whistles and automated warning beeps, and the lack of patience drivers have when it comes to actually learning how those systems work.

“When you get a car with a manual that’s as thick as Lord of the Rings, you’re not going to read it. You’ll just say, ‘I’ll figure it out while I’m driving.’”

He said the important thing to remember is that just because you have 16 sensors in your car doesn’t mean you have “some kind of force field like in Star Trek.”

He added: “Too many beeps is the same as having none.”

Meanwhile, Allstate offers tips to reduce the potential for distraction on the road, including:

Keep your phone on silent and out of reach to avoid the temptation to respond to every tone, beep or buzz it emits.

Get directions before you leave rather than adjust your GPS en route. (Although if changes must be made, pull over first.)