The top 10 distractions when driving a car and texting

Driving at the wheel is dangerous and is often the cause of penalties and accidents. The current survey by the direct car insurance company DA Direkt on the day of road safety on 20 June proves: rightly so, because just under half (48 percent) of all German motorists call calls as a cause of distraction. However, even more (53 percent) are disturbed in the car by falling objects. Almost half (47 percent) of the respondents admitted that they had come into a dangerous situation through distractions.

Other disruptive factors include SMS, messages and e-mails (46 percent), navigation device use (40 percent) and food and drink (30 percent). Somewhat surprisingly, more than a fifth of respondents devote their time to caring for their body care while driving. Making calls distracts drivers who are not often behind the wheel. 60 percent of respondents who travel less frequently than once a week are disturbed in their concentration by telephoning, but only 40 percent of those who travel five to six times a week.

SMS or phone calls are among the most distractions. (Image: nito / fotolia)

"Despite numerous educational campaigns, the survey shows that Germans in the car can be easily distracted by cell phones and technology. If they are not fully aware of this, it can lead to difficult situations, "comments Norbert Wulff, CEO of the direct car insurance company DA Direkt. "In addition to the danger to life and limb, accidents caused by distraction can even lead to the complete loss of insurance cover if the driver has acted with gross negligence. Therefore, motorists should not endanger themselves and other participants unnecessarily by avoidable distractions. "

The top 10 distractions while driving

• Dropped Items (53%)
• Telephoning (48%)
• SMS, messages, emails (46%)
• Operating the navigation device or other controls (e.g., air conditioning, radio, etc.) (40%)
• Food and drink (30%)
• Body care (23%)
• Children as co-driver (23%)
• Animals in the vehicle (21%)
• Adjusting the seat or mirrors (21%)
• Smoking (18%)

In other places:

11. Adults as co-driver (12%)
12. Listen to audiobooks (10%)
13. Listen to music (9%)

None of this (16%)
Other (1%)
do not know / no answer (2%)

About the survey
All data, unless otherwise stated, are provided by YouGov Deutschland AG. At the online survey between 22.04. and the 28.04.2015 participated 1000 German drivers. (Pm)