iDriveFocused.com. Driving while distracted is bad for your health. Here's why.

                  The last few days have seen a lot of media attention about the new study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project which found adults to be even worse distracted drivers than the teens they so often express concern about. Sam has already put up a couple different posts even on this blog discussing some of the findings of the study but the basic gist of it is that about half of the adults surveyed say they have sent or read texts while driving. That’s pretty shocking news to a lot of people.

The Pew Research Center has found that 17 percent of adults have been so distracted by texting or talking on their phones that they bumped into another person or object while walking.

While this texting-while-walking phenomenon may not have the devastating effects of distracted driving, it still demonstrates our inability to put the phone down.

A new Pew Research Center survey found that 61% of adults have made calls on their cell phone while driving. Compare that with 43% of 16- and 17-year-olds and it seems to be the parents who are engaging in more unsafe activity behind the wheel. This clearly disproves the myth that distracted driving is a teen issue.

On Tuesday, the Governors Highway Safety Association issued a new report it terms the first comprehensive overview of states' efforts to prevent distracted driving.  A GHSA press release on the report, "Curbing Distracted Driving: 2010 Survey of State Safety Programs," revealed seven key findings:

Lawmakers in Michigan say that they might expand their texting-while-driving ban to include cyclists, too.

"It's two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road when you're driving a car, and two hands on the handlebars while on a bicycle," Democratic state representative Lee Gonzalez told WWJ.950 Detroit.

Are there any cyclists out there? What are your texting-while-cycling habits?

Vernon Betkey, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association, called on parents to set a positive example for their children in order to prevent distracted driving during and interview with WGNS Radio.

"Let's not discount the personal responsibility that everyone needs to take in this matter as well. If you have a parent who is talking on a cell phone or texting in the presence of their children or young adults…that's not going to be a very good example."

A group of middle schoolers in Buck County, PA have devised TEXTerminator, an automobile device that will shut down a user's phone in order to prevent distracted driving. TEXTerminator is similar to products that drivers can already take advantage of, such as ZoomSafer.

The National Safety Council has officially backed the Distracted Driving Prevention Act, per a press release issued June 8th.

The Distracted Driving Prevention Act allows the Secretary of Transportation to give money to states that have laws that prohibit texting and using handheld cellphones while driving. There are currently 28 states that have adopted such laws. Once promised a federal grant, all other states should be soon to follow.

In their efforts to prevent distracted driving, police officers in British Columbia have heard a plethora of excuses, according to a new article in The Vancouver Sun.

Here are some of the most transparent excuses:

-"I was talking to my wife! She's family!"

-"It was an important business call!"

-"But I'm not even from this town!"

Distracted driving contributes to nearly 6,000 deaths a year: there are no excuses.

What's the most outrageous excuse for distracted driving you ever heard? What excuses have you made?