‘Tis the Season for WWD

WWD. It’s a fairly new acronym, and worth a few words with the holidays upon us.

Texting while driving remains a relatively new, albeit growing concern, on the nation’s highways. But now it seems an increasing number of people are also “webbing while driving,” a new State Farm report shows. The State Farm survey of nearly 1,000 motorists shows a significant increase in the use of mobile web services while driving.

So it seems there’s yet another reason for us to worry about our fellow motorists – aside from stupidity, carelessness, hostility, the time of day, the proximity to the nearest bar and the possibility they’re more interested in texting LOL to their BFF than they are in scanning the road.

The growing popularity of smart phones is no doubt contributing to the rise in WWD. This makes us even more anxious than normal about driving safety during the holidays, a time when people’s yearning to keep in touch with one another seems to increase astronomically.

WWD isn’t just a growing problem among young people. The report shows motorists of all ages are using the mobile web while driving.

For drivers ages 18 to 29 the study shows that accessing the internet via a cell phone while driving increased to 48 percent in 2012 from 29 percent in 2009, and reading social media networks while driving rose to 36 percent from 21 percent three years ago.

Checking email while driving rose from to 43 percent in 2012 from 32 percent in 2009, according to the study.

People are even posting status updates while behind the wheel. Updating social networks while driving increased from about one-in-five three years ago to 30 percent.

For all drivers, the data showed that reading social media networks while driving rose to 15 percent in 2012, and updating social networks while driving rose to 13 percent in 2012.

Remember when the biggest irritant to be encountered on the road was when someone left on their left turn signal?

Now with so many unable to resist the urge to reach out and touch someone while behind the wheel, or no matter what they’re doing, we’d welcome a few stuck blinkers.

Happy Holidays…and be safe.