Survey: Texting While Driving Makes Other Drivers Really, Really Mad
By Jan Carabeo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A lot more people are going to be hitting the road very soon with Memorial Day and summer right around the corner.
So State Police are reminding folks to follow the rules. They are cracking down on aggressive driving this weekend all over the east coast.
With that said, it may be a good time to think about what makes you aggressive behind the wheel. It might have to do with this.
This weather may have you in a bad mood already, then you hop in the car and another driver makes a bad mood worse.
"You don't want to be in the car when I go off," says Kevin Dougherty of Wynnewood.
Admit it -- you too are probably guilty of a little anger behind the wheel for a lot of reasons.
"Cars hedging out from intersections," Andrew Dougherty of Drexel Hill.
"When I'm cut off on the road by another car," says Steve Clay of Havertown.
"The drifting is the worst," says Angel Rios of Camden.
But according to a survey released Friday by Expedia, the number one cause of road rage is:
"Texting on the phone," says Bill Begley of Camden.
That's right -- nearly seven out of 10 people say drivers who text behind the wheel are the most infuriating, followed by the tailgater and the multi-tasker who puts on make up or eats while navigating the roads.
Rounding out the top five are the drifter and the crawler.
Truck drivers Angel Rios and Bill Begley see most of these every day.
"Excuse me, the light is green, you're still dialing phone numbers," says Begley.
And this weekend State Police are taking notice too.
Troopers in all 15 states along I-95 including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware will be out in force looking drivers not following the rules.
"We're going to be targeting speeders, distracted drivers," says Trooper Danea Durham of Pennsylvania State Police.
Distracted drivers especially dangerous.
Government research compares texting and driving to drunk driving.
"You're 23 times more likely to be in an accident with texting and driving as well," says John Burger of Allstate Insurance.
And interestingly enough, while texting behind the wheel ticks off the most people, more than half of those surveyed admit to doing it themselves.
