• 80% of cell phone owners talk while driving
  
• 40% of cell phone owners between 16 and 30 text message while driving
  
• 60% of teens use cell phones while driving
  
• 65% of baby boomers between 45 and 61 use cell phones while driving
  
• 78% of users between 18 and 30 use cell phones while driving
  
• 80% of users between 31 and 44 use cell phones while driving.

People should be videotaped while talking on their phones while driving, both to show how it impacts their driving and how big of a douchebag they look like gabbing on their pink RAZR while their Tahoe hugs two lanes. [Breitbart via CG] {Image via Getty)

• Cell phone use among teens while driving is 76%
• 57% admit to texting "sometimes" or to often reading or sending text messages while driving
• 93% of teens play loud music when they drive
• 48% admit they're easily distracted when friends are passengers
• 91% think they're good drivers
• 34% say they're friends are good drivers
• 97% have witnessed other teens take risks while driving

Blind-spot detection, emergency brake assistance and adaptive headlights were the worst of the crash-avoidance technologies by being able to prevent 428, 3,079 and 2,553 fatal crashes annually. The forward collision with automatic braking and lane-departure warnings did better by being able to prevent 7.166 and 10,345 fatal crashes annually. There is between around 42,000 automobile deaths annually.

The IIHS found these numbers by analyzing all of the crash data from 2002 to 2006 that could be affected by these types of technology and highlighting how many crashes were fatal. Tom Baloga, BMW's vp of engineering said that the IIHS's figures have "significant limitations in accuracy" and adding that as more manufacturers include this technology, the numbers will go up. In other words, he's saying once the non-luxury cars begin including the technology, the figures will change. [USA Today]

Stanford pitted sleep-deprived drivers against drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .089, which is over the legal limit, and found that there were no significant differences between the two groups in 11 different test metrics. Sleep-deprived driving isn't necessarily illegal, but use some common sense. There's nothing wrong with taking a nap in a parking lot or ducking into a cheap and sleazy motel for some, er, shut-eye before hitting the road again. You might even enjoy carrying your own sheets to the room. [Stanford via Core77]

Turns out the soccer mom in the 6,000 lbs SUV cutting you off on the way to work is actually the safest driver on the road. Especially on Wednesdays. In February. In Boston. Before you scream, we know the press still thinks "skill" and "safe" are synonyms. But here's the big news; men are 77% more likely to die in an accident than women given the same number of miles driven. Why? According the study's author, "men do stupider things." Which is sort of like announcing that water is wet. Also noteworthy, if you are a 21 to 24-year-old male and a ride a motorcycle between midnight and 4:00 am, you are 45,000 times more likely to die than an average driver. We recommend you start smoking. – Jonny Lieberman

Risk of death higher for male drivers; elderly women more likely to die than teenage boys [AP]

Related:
Women Harder to Please than Men in Cars, Chuh [Internal]

Tucked into the dark depths of Cobo's downstairs are the oddities, the collegiate displays, some suppliers and service providers. This happens to be one of the oddities. There was really no literature surrounding it, and it may or may not have been built at Hunan University and sponsored by Chengfeng Motor Company (assumption based only on booth proximity), but it's wacky, and it's retina-searing orange. Aside from the wacky wheel layout with super high speed instability potential, it's also sporting a bamboo and shag carpet interior that makes us ache for the 70's (and chuckle at the thought of a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Inspection). We're happy stuff like this makes it to the floor. All that precision gets tiresome after seven hours on the floor.– Ben Wojdyla

Super awesome bamboo interior and epic posterior after the jump...