2.5 percent of the population can drive and use their phone at the same time. That means 97.5 percent can't.


You don’t see The Stig driving and texting, do you?

A new study from the University of Utah suggests that a very small percentage of people are able to drive safely while using a cellphone. The actual percentage, 2.5 percent of the population, isn’t high enough to affect policy, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Well, kinda.

The study looked at 200 undergraduates, and had them carry out one task, simulated driving, while subjecting them to a second task, listening to a cellphone conversation involving numbers and memorization.

97.5 percent of the kids couldn’t do both effectively—the second task overwhelmed their ability to carry out the first task.

Of course that means 2.5 percent can do both effectively. Meanwhile, 95 percent of people think they’re a part of that 2.5 percent group.

Yes, I just made that last stat up, but when you consider that, at any given time, some 10 percent of U.S. drivers are on the road while on their phone, and that nearly 30 percent of all traffic accidents last year were caused by cellphone-using drivers…

Just don’t drive and use your phone at the same time. I really don’t see why this is such an issue.

You can read the entire study here (PDF).