witrends Survey: Many Drive While Distracted (NAPSA)—You’ve seen them in your rearview mirror or in the car next to you. Sometimes they’re putting on makeup while steering with their knees, punching text messages into a phone without ever looking up at the road, or using a BlackBerry to read e-mail with one hand andsteering with a cup of coffee in the other. Or per- haps you’ve seen—or even done— worse. You: guilty of DWD? A culture of multitasking is spreading to the roads. A new survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance shows “Driving While Distracted” (DWD) is quite prevalent among today’s drivers and more dangerous than you might think. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says distracted drivers account for almost 80 percent of all crashes in the U.S. As found by Nationwide’s survey, even those who perceive themselves as safe drivers admit to doing outlandish things behind the wheel, including changing clothes, balancing a checkbook and shaving. To learn more about the survey, visit www.nationwide.com.
