Multitasking during driving is an especially dangerous habit. Taking a call being on the wheel can land one in serious trouble, especially when on a busy road. A new study commissioned by Ford finds that a surprisingly high number of drivers tend to multitask when driving.

During the course of this study, some 2506 drivers were surveyed, 99% of which thought they were good drivers. Ironically enough, 76% of these drivers would eat or drink when driving while another 55% would often speed. Taking calls is also quite common among the drivers it seems and 53% admitted to using a handheld phone when driving.

Ford has introduced a number of technologies to mitigate the risks of accidents due to the driver’s carelessness. These range from the ability to put a cap on the top speeds of a vehicle to block incoming calls while driving. However, the study reveals that most of the drivers simply don’t know about these technologies and don’t usually make use of them.

According to Ford group marketing manager, Amy Marentic, “I think we need to communicate better.” And to accomplish precisely that, Ford is training its dealers to convey these new technological innovations to the customers in a more detailed manner so that they won’t miss them.

Apparently, one of the major reasons why people multitask during driving is that they think this is time-efficient. Most people simply are out of time and need to multitask to stay up to speed with things. Ford’s manager of global trends and futuring, Sheryl Connelly says, “People are spending more time in their vehicles and have a sense of time poverty: not enough hours in the day so they are doing more multitasking.”

However, the good news are that drivers do indeed want to make use of such systems which would enable them to avoid accidents, systems which would let them know when a car is in their blind spot or right behind them in a parking lot. And Ford intends to cash on this sentiment by introducing more tech-savvy vehicles in 2013.

Courtesy: Free Press

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