Texting while driving numbers steady since 2009, State Farm reports

The percentage of people who admit to texting while driving has remained stable over the past six years, according to research from State Farm in the U.S.

In 2009, 31% of respondents to the State Farm-commissioned poll indicated that they text while drive, while that increased slightly to 33% this year.

However, among drivers between 18 and 29, 58% admitted to texting while driving this year, down from 69% last year and 71% in 2009.

In the most recent online survey, being stopped at a red light was a scenario where 63% of respondents indicated being more likely to use their phone while driving, and 30% indicated being more likely to use their phone on an open highway.

Scenarios where drivers would be less likely to use their phone behind the wheel included:

• Dark outside – 75%
• Fog – 91%
• Snow – 92%
• Icy – 93%
• Heavy traffic – 78%
• Construction zone – 87%
• Rain – 88%
• School zone – 83%

Interestingly, about 10% of respondents indicated that driving in school or construction zones would have no impact on their cell phone use while driving, State Farm noted.

Based on the insurer’s polls over the past few years, smartphone use is growing. In 2011, 52% of drivers reported owning a smartphone, while in 2014, that number grew to 80%. The biggest jump in smartphone ownership was among adults age 40 and older.

While fewer respondents have reported talking on a handheld phone over the past several years (from 65% in 2009 to 55% this year), there has been a “significant increase over six years in drivers using their phones for: accessing the Internet, reading email, responding to email, programming and listening to a navigation system and reading social media,” State Farm noted.