In what should have been the most unnecessary press release of all time, the AAA warned drivers to quit being idiots and stop taking selfies while driving Monday.
Not only are people making pouty faces while clocking 60 mph, but they are broadcasting them to the world in hashtags. AAA has been tracking #drivingselfie, #drivingtowork, the ever-terrifying #drivingfast, and #rainx.
The latter, “includes videos of people holding their phones to the windshield while driving in the rain in order to see the beading of rain produced by using the product Rainx. In some cases, the driver lowers the phone enough to see the speedometer, which shows that the vehicle is moving at nearly 70 miles per hour while the driver is distracted.”
Here’s what it looks like:
[tweet https://twitter.com/OfficialRainX/status/396376955680862208/%5D
In 2011, 385 people died in car crashes in which one person was using a cell phone.
AAA broke down just how far people drive distracted in terms of the length of time it takes to take a picture, a Vine, and an Instagram video:
A driver taking a photo for approximately two seconds takes their eyes off of the road for nearly two basketball courts, nearly half a football field, or over half a soccer field. A driver filming a six second video while driving 60 mph is not paying attention to the road for over 5.5 basketball court lengths, nearly two soccer fields or 1.5 football fields. A driver filming a 15 second video while driving 60 mph is not paying attention to the road for over 14 basketball court lengths, nearly 4.5 soccer fields or nearly 4 football fields.
That doesn’t even include the time it takes to pick a good Instagram filter.
So for the sake of all of us, please don’t selfie and drive. Your hair doesn’t look that great anyway.